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I. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 VOLUME XXXIII "3 
 
 CONTAINING LIFE SKETCHES OF LEADING CITIZENS OF 
 
 SCHENECTADY, SCHOHARIE 
 AND GREENE COUNTIES 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 Who among men art thou, and thy years how many, good friend ? — XenuI'HANES 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 Biographical Review Publishing Company 
 
 1899 
 

 ATLANTIC STATES SERIES OF BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS. 
 
 The volumes issued in this series up to date are the following : — 
 
 I. Otsego Countv, New York. 
 II. Madison County, New York. 
 
 III. ISkoome County, New York. 
 
 IV. CoLU.Miii.\ CouNiv, Nkw York. 
 V. C".AYUG,\ County, New York. 
 
 VI. Delaware County, New York. 
 VII. Livingston and Wyoming Coi'nites, 
 
 New York. 
 Vlll. Clinton and Essex Couniies, New 
 York. 
 IX. Hami'den County, Massachusetts. 
 X. Franklin County, Massachusetts. 
 XI. Hampshire County, Ma.ssachuseits. 
 XII. Lnciii'TELD County, Connecticut. 
 
 XIII. York County, Maine. 
 
 XIV. Cumberland County, Maine. 
 
 XV. Oxford and Franklin Counties, 
 
 Maine. 
 XVI. Cumberland County, New Jersey. 
 XVII. Rockingham County, New Hampshire. 
 XVIII. Plymouth County, Massachusetts. 
 XIX. Camden and Burlington Counties, 
 New Jersey. 
 
 XX. Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and 
 Waldo Counties, Maine. 
 XXI. Strafford and Belknap Counties, 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 XXII. Sullivan and Merrimai.k ("ounties, 
 New Hampshire. 
 XXI II. Hillsboro and Cheshire Counties, 
 
 New Hampshire. 
 XXIV. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 XXV. Norfolk County, Ma.ssachuseits. 
 XXVI. New London County, Connecticut. 
 X.WII. MiiiDLEsEX County, Massachusetts. 
 .XXVIII. Essex County, Massachusetts. 
 XXIX. Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, 
 Washington, and Aroostook 
 Counties, Maine. 
 XXX. Worcester County, Massachusetts. 
 XXXI. Berkshire County, Massachusetts. 
 XXXII. Somerset and Bedford Counties, 
 Pe.nnsylvania. 
 
 X.X.XIIl. Sciienectady,Schoharie AND Greene 
 Counties, New York. 
 
 Note. — All the biographical sketches published in this volume were submitted to their respective subjects or to the sub- 
 scribers, from whom the facts were primarily obtained, for their approval or correction before going to press, and a reasonable 
 time was allowed in each case for the return of the typewritten copies. Most of them were returned to us within the time allotted, 
 or before the work was printed, after being corrected or revised ; and these may therefore be regarded as reasonably accurate. 
 
 A few, however, were not returned to us ; and, as we have no means of knowing whether they contain errors or not, we 
 cannot vouch for their accuracy. In justice to our readers, and to render this work more valuable for referenae purposes, we have 
 indicated all uncorrected sketches by a small asterisk (*), placed immediately after the name of the subject. They will be found 
 printed on the last pages of the book. 
 
 5-1^ 5 ts l; j^ j.^iH. CO. 
 
 . ^5. 
 
J. 
 
 
 [i 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 "0 
 
 NE generation passeth away, and another generation cometh "—an ancient 
 writer thus summarizes the unending story of the life of man on the earth. 
 Multitudes who came and went long, long ago left but scanty memorials of themselves 
 and of their work, and these exceedingly hard to get at, necessitating in our day on 
 the part of the heir of all the ages a new profession, requiring detective ardor and 
 I: skill — that of the archreologist. With the advance of the art of living has kept 
 
 pace both the study of the past and the writing of contemporary records, the present 
 generation being especially mindful of its obligations in this respect to posterity. 
 
 For one hundred and twenty-three years has the American republic kept with 
 open door the best and best-attended training school in the world for the develop- 
 ment of individuals, the result being an unrivalled body of intelligent, loyal, serviceable 
 citizens, builders and, if need be, defenders of their country. 
 
 The Biographical Review, of which the present issue, devoted to Schenectady, 
 Schoharie, and Greene Counties, New York, is the thirty-third in our Atlantic Series, 
 has for its object to preserve the life stories, with ancestral notes, of numerous repre- 
 sentatives of the American people of to-day, well known in their respective localities 
 
 men and women of action and of integrity, helpers in the world's work — to the end 
 that future generations may keep their memory green, may emulate their virtues, 
 profit by their experience, and haply, with increased advantages of learning and 
 resources, better their example. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
 October, 1899. 
 
AUSTIN A. VATES. 
 
BIOSRAPHIGAL. 
 
 ON.' AUSTIN ANDREW 
 YATES, one of the lead- 
 ing attorneys of Schenectady, 
 served with the rank of Cap- 
 tain in the Civil War, and as 
 Major of the Second Battalion, 
 New York Infantry, was on 
 duty with his command in va- 
 rious camps during- the Spanish War, biit is 
 better known by the title of Judge, having 
 been elected to that office in 1873. 
 
 He was born in Schenectady on March 
 24, 1836, son of the Rev. John Austin and 
 Henrietta Maria (Cobb) Yates. The original 
 ancestor in America was Joseph Yates, an Eng- 
 lishman, who emigrated in 1664 and settled 
 in Albany. Christopher Yates, son of Joseph, 
 and the next in this line, had a son Joseph, 
 who was born in Albany, and settled in Glen- 
 ville, N.Y. , where he carried on a large plan- 
 tation bordering upon the river, and owned a 
 number of slaves. 
 
 Christopher Yates, second, son of Joseph, 
 second, and great-grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, was one of the well-to-do residents 
 of Schenectady in his day. While serving as 
 a Lieutenant in the Provincial army, he was 
 wounded at the siege of Ticonderoga in the 
 
 French War. He served as a Captain under 
 Sir William Johnson in the engagement at 
 Fort Niagara, and received from King George 
 III. a land grant of nine thousand acres. His 
 term of service as member of the first Provin- 
 cial Congress expired just six days prior to the 
 signing of the Declaration of Independence. 
 Entering the Continental army as a C(jloneI, 
 he served as Assistant Department Quarter- 
 master under General Philip Schuyler, and 
 participated in the battle of Saratoga. He 
 reared five sons, each of whom performed some 
 notable achievement. Joseph C. Yates, the 
 eldest son, was one of the founders of Union 
 College and Governor of New York, 1823-25; 
 John B. served as Colonel of a cavalry regi- 
 ment in the War of 181 2, was member of Con- 
 gress from Madison County, and built the 
 Welland Canal ; Henry was a State Senator 
 from Albany; Christopher was the founder of 
 St. George's Lodge, F. & A. M., Schenec- 
 tady; and Andrew, Judge Yates's grandfather, 
 known as the Rev. Andrew Yates, D. D., was 
 one of the first professors at Union College. 
 
 Dr. Yates was a man of superior intellectual 
 endowments, and was well versed in ancient 
 and modern languages, including Holland 
 Dutch. His professorship at L^ninn College 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 was productive of much benefit to that institu- 
 tion wliile in its infancy. His whole life was 
 one of useful activity. Laboring diligently to 
 increase the facilities for religious worship, lie 
 built thirteen churches, mostly missions of the 
 Reformed denomination, all of which are still 
 standing antl are in a flourishing condition. 
 He inherited considerable wealth from his 
 father's estate. l-'or his first wife he married 
 Mary Austin, who was of Knglish Puritan 
 stock, and was a relative of the founder of 
 Austin, Te.\'. Of this union there were two 
 sons — John Austin and Andrew i\ His sec- 
 ond wife, who was formerly a Miss Hooker, of 
 Hartford, Conn., became the mother of three 
 children — ^ Mary Austin, James, and Anna E. 
 Andrew Yates also reared John Uominis, who 
 became the consort of the Queen of the Sand- 
 wiih Islands. Dr. Yates died in 1844, and 
 his widow survived him some ten years. 
 
 The Rev. John Austin Yates, his eldest son, 
 was born within the precincts of Union Col- 
 lege, Schenectady, in 1801. After graduating 
 from that institution he spent some time in 
 Europe studying the modern languages, and 
 spoke French and German fluently. He was 
 afterward a tutor at Union College for some 
 years, or imtil called to the pastorate of a Re- 
 formed church in Jersey City. As a jjulpit 
 orator he acquired a wide reputation. The 
 memorable cholera epidemic of 1S49 numbered 
 him among its many victims; and his death, 
 which occurred in Schenectady on August 26 
 of that year, when he was but forty-eight years 
 old, was sincerely lamenteil in other localities 
 as well as the vicinity (jf Union College. 
 
 In 1829 he married Henrietta Maria Cobb, 
 an adopted daughter (jf his uncle. Colonel 
 John B. Yates. He was the father of five 
 children, namely: Henrietta Cobb, who died 
 in infancy; Mary Austin, who married John 
 Watkins, and died in Columbia, S. C. , in 
 1853, leaving a family, of whom John D. 
 and Grace .S. Watkins are now living; John 
 B. , second, who served as Colonel of the 
 First Michigan Engineers under General 
 Sherman tluring the Civil War, was later a 
 division engineer on the Erie Canal, and is 
 now in the government service at Grosse Point, 
 Mich. ; Austin A., the subject of this sketch; 
 and the late Captain Arthur Reed Yates, 
 United States Navy. Captain Yates was 
 graduated from the Naval Academy, Annapo- 
 lis, in 1857, and was thus senior to Schley and 
 Sampson. He was for .some time a naval at- 
 tache in Japan. He served upon Admiral 
 Farragut's staff during the Civil War, and re- 
 ceived that officer's hearty commendation in 
 recognition of his gallant conduct at fhe battle 
 of Mobile liay. He dietl at Portsmouth, 
 N. H., November 4, 1892, on the eve of ]Dro- 
 motion to the rank of Commodore. The 
 mother died in Alarch, 1842, aged thirty-one. 
 
 Austin Andrew Yates's birth took jilace 
 while his father was an instructor at Union 
 College, and he was the second representative 
 of the famil}' Ijorn within its limits. He at- 
 tended the public schools until entering the 
 Schenectady Lyceum for his preparatory 
 course, which was completed when he was but 
 thirteen years old; and in Sejitember, 1849, he 
 began his classical studies at Union. Leav- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ing college in 1850, he spent two years in 
 Western Massachusetts, where he continued 
 his studies under the tutorship of David M. 
 Kimball, and, passing a successful examina- 
 tion for the Junior class, he completed the 
 course antl was graduated from Union College 
 in 1854. He read law in the ofifice of the late 
 Judge Potter, and was admitted to the bar in 
 1857, when twenty-one years old. During the 
 first few years of his practice he devoted a part 
 of his time to newspaper work, first as editor 
 of the Schenectady Daily Times and later of 
 the Evening Star. 
 
 Enlisting in Company H, One Hundred and 
 Thirty-fourth Regiment, New York Volun- 
 teers, during the Civil War, he was promoted 
 from the rank of Lieutenant to that of Cap- 
 tain. He was in the reserve force during the 
 battle of Fredericksburg, and at Chancellors- 
 ville he received such severe injury to his eyes 
 as to necessitate his discharge for disability. 
 Re-enlisting as Captain of Company F, 
 Fourteenth Regiment, United States Veteran 
 Reserve Corps, he participated in some en- 
 gagements near Washington, and on the occa- 
 sion of a sudden attack made by the enemy 
 under General Jubal A. Early, he assisted Pres- 
 ident Lincoln, who happened to be present, 
 from the field. In November, 1863, he was 
 sent with three companies to supi)ress a riot 
 among the miners in Carbon County, Pennsyl- 
 vania. Among the various official duties of 
 his command after the close of hostilities was 
 that of the execution of Mrs. Surratt and the 
 other conspirators, which is one of the most 
 unpleasant recollections of his military ser- 
 
 vice. He was brevetted Major in 1865, and 
 appointed Judge Advocate under Joseph Holt, 
 Judge Advocate General, and after his dis- 
 charge from the army in 1866 he resumed his 
 law practice in Schenectady. 
 
 Politically, Judge Yates is a Republican. 
 In 1867 he was unsuccessful as a candidate for 
 the Assembly, owing to a factional discord in 
 the party. He was elected District Attorney 
 in 1868, re-elected in 1871, and in 1873 was 
 elected Judge by a large majority. He was a 
 candidate for the State Senate in 1885, but 
 lacked ten votes of being elected. In 1887 he 
 was successful in his candidacy for the Assem- 
 bly, and was re-elected in 1S88. Upon the 
 expiration of his term as Judge he once more 
 returned to bis practice, and is now conducting 
 a profitable general law business. 
 
 On December 18, 1865, Judge Yates was 
 joined in marriage with Josephine de Vendell, 
 daughter of John I. Yates. They have one 
 daughter, Henrietta C. 
 
 In September, 1880, Judge Yates was com- 
 missioned Captain of the Thirty-sixth Separate 
 Company, National Guard, State of New York, 
 and later he was commander of the Fifteenth 
 Eattalion. In May, 1898, as Major of the 
 Second Battalion, New York Infantry, he led 
 his command to the field in the Spanish War, 
 and served in camps on this side of the water 
 at Hempstead, Lytic, Chickamauga, Tampa, 
 Fernandina, and Camp Harden. He retired 
 in October, having served through all the 
 camps and service which have been the cause 
 of such caustic criticism ; and, thou"h his regi- 
 ment lost thirty-one by death, he brought 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 lidme every one of liis four huiulied ami thirty- 
 six men al i\e. 
 
 Judge Yates was president of the National 
 Guard's Association in 1S90, and for a number 
 of years Commander of the local post of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic. He is a Master 
 Mason, as were many of his ancestors, includ- 
 ing his father, grandfather, and great-grand- 
 father. 
 
 NDRi:W J. (iUFFIN, M.D., a suc- 
 
 cessful jihysician of Carlisle, was born 
 in Grcenbush, Rensselaer County, 
 N.Y., June 6, 1846, son of John and Hannah 
 (Dings) Guffin. The Guffin family is of 
 Scotch-Irish antecedents, and was founded in 
 America b}' the Doctor's grandfather, Andrew 
 Gufifin, who was born in Newry, County Di)wn, 
 Ireland, in 1756. 
 
 Andicw Guffin emigrated to America when 
 a young man, settling first in Dutchess 
 County, New York. Later he moved to Scho- 
 dack, near Nassau, Rensselaer County, where 
 he resided luitil his death, whicli occurred in 
 1842. He was e.\lensivel\' engaged in farm- 
 ing, hi ])olitics he was a Whig, and his 
 religious affiliations were with the Dutch Re- 
 formed church. In 1 78 1 he married Hannah 
 Ostrom, who was born in Dutchess County, 
 New York, of German ancestry. .She died in 
 1835, '^^ the age of seventy-three. They were 
 the parents of fourteen chiltlren ; namely, ICliz- 
 abeth, Rebecca, Andrew (i., .Sarah, James, 
 John, Thomas, George, I\huy, Josiah, Henr\-, 
 Hannah, Elijah, and Jonas. Elijah became a 
 
 teacher in an asylum for deaf-mutes. All the 
 other sons were farmers. 
 
 John Guffin, the Doctor's father, followed 
 agriculture in Albany and Rensselaer Counties 
 successively until the last fifteen years of his 
 life, which he spent in retirement as a resident 
 of the city of All)any- He was very success- 
 ful financialh', owning a number of farms and 
 other real estate. In politics he was a Repub- 
 lican and in his religious belief Presbyterian. 
 He died in 1879, aged eighty years. His 
 wife li\ed to the age of about eighty-two. 
 She was the mother of four children, namely: 
 Emma, who is no longer living; Andrew [., 
 the subject of this sketch; Charles W. , a clerk 
 in the American Express Office in New York 
 City; and John C. , who was formerly secretary 
 of the American Sewing Machine Company of 
 New York. 
 
 Andrew J. Guffin, having conii)leted his gen- 
 eral education at the Albany Classical Insti- 
 tute, enlisted for service in the Civil War; and 
 subsequent to his discharge he began the study 
 of medicine under the direction of Dr. J. R. 
 Iniulware, a leading physician of Alban\'. He 
 then took the regular course at the Albany Med- 
 ical College, where he was graduatetl in 1868. 
 After a year's experience as jjhysician at the 
 almshouse, he settled for practice in Nassau, 
 N.Y. , whence he went to Canaan Four Cor- 
 ners, and still later to New Canaan, Conn., 
 from which place he lemoved to Clifton Lark, 
 Saratoga Count}-, N.Y. In 1897 lie came 
 to Carlisle, where he has already built up a 
 good practice. 
 
 Dr. Guffin is a member of the Schoharie 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 '3 
 
 County Medical Society. Politically, he is a 
 Republican, and is now serving as Health 
 Officer. A member of the Presbyterian 
 church, he was formerly president of the local 
 branch of Christian Endeavor Societ}', and is 
 now its treasurer. 
 
 Dr. Guffin married October 21, iS6g, Vira 
 Phillips, of Nassau, Rensselaer County, 
 N.Y. , daughter of John and Mary Phillips. 
 Of this union was born one child, a son, John 
 C. Mrs. Guffin departed this life in i8go. 
 John C. Guffin was graduated from the Cobles- 
 kill High School, and is now book-keeper at 
 William V. Downer's Life Insiu'ance Agency. 
 
 l^jKNWICK DIBPELL, general mer- 
 chant, Tannersville, Greene Count)*, 
 was born at Piatt Clove, in this 
 town, July 5, 1861. His parents were Har- 
 mon B. and PJeborah M. (Hummel 1) Dibbell, 
 his father a native of Colchester, Delaware 
 County, and his mother a native of Piatt Clove, 
 His grandfather, Amos Dibbell, who was a 
 native of Holland, settled in Delaware County, 
 New York, as a pioneer, and resided there 
 until 1834, when he went to Piatt Clove. He 
 was a millwright by trade, following that occu- 
 pation, a number of years, and his death oc- 
 curred at the age of eighty-four. His wife, 
 formerly Charlotte Williams, of Colchester, 
 died at eigbty-nine )'ears of age. They had 
 a family of ten children. 
 
 Harmon B. L^ii)bell learned the trade of 
 a millwright, which he followed at Piatt 
 Clove for a time, later moving to Kingston, 
 
 where he engaged in manufacturing. After- 
 ward he went to Elka Park, erecting there a 
 mill, which he conducted for the rest of his life. 
 In 1863 he raised Company E of the Fifteenth 
 Regiment, New York Volunteers, engineer 
 corps, and this company he commanded imtil 
 mustered out at the close of the war. He was 
 a Democrat in politics, acted as a Justice of 
 the Peace for some time, and was a prominent 
 man in the community. He died at the age of 
 seventy-one. His wife, Deborah, was a daugh- 
 ter of Jeremiah Hummell. Her father was a 
 farmer and an early settler of Piatt Clove, 
 where he resideil until his death, which oc- 
 curred when he was ninety years old. Har- 
 mon B. and Deborah M. Dibbell were the 
 parents of six children, three of whom arc liv- 
 ing — Egbert, Renwick, and George W. Dib- 
 bell. Egbert is now residing in South Dakota. 
 The mother still survives, and resides with her 
 son in Tannersville. 
 
 Renwick Dibbell came to Elka Park with his 
 parents when six years of age. He attended 
 the common schools, and assisted his father in 
 the lumber business until his father's death. 
 Forming a partnership with a<i Mr. Goslen, he 
 entered the contracting and building business 
 at I'^lka Park, erecting a number of cottages 
 there, also the Poggenberg Hotel, the Scho- 
 harie Mansion, and the Catherine Tower. 
 This structure is built of stone and is fifty feet 
 high. It is fourteen feet at the base, and has 
 stone steps on the inside leading to the top. 
 In 1888 Mr. Dibbell took up the profession of 
 a civil engineer, and did considerable survey- 
 ing in different parks, also laying out roads 
 
14 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and running farm lines. In 1895 the firm 
 purchased the store of C. F. Gray, one of the 
 largest mercantile establishments in town, in 
 which they carried a full stock of groceries, 
 boots, shoes, notions, and other merchandise. 
 This store was conducted in connection with 
 their contracting business until October 14, 
 1898, when the partnership was dissolved. 
 Since that time Mr. Dibbell has carried it on 
 alone. Mr. Dibbell has resided here since his 
 early boyhood, and takes an active interest in 
 local public affairs. Through his efforts a 
 jiost-office was established at Elka Park, and 
 he has been Postmaster there for the jiast five 
 years. He also succeeded in causing the ex- 
 tension of the telegraph and tele])hone lines to 
 Elka Park and Schoharie Mansion, he being 
 the owner of the telephone line. He has 
 control of the switch office for the Catskill 
 Mountain Telephone Company, and is local 
 agent of the Western Union Telegraph Com- 
 pany. Having a long distance telephone, they 
 can converse with New York, Boston, and 
 other cities. At the present time he devotes 
 his entire attention to his mercantile enter- 
 ])rise, the telegrai^h and telephone agencies, 
 employing five assistants. 
 
 On October 17, 1883, Mr. Dibbell was 
 joined in marriage with Miss Alice Bishop, of 
 Hunter, daughter of Asa and Ann (Brown) 
 ]?ishop. Her father spent most of his life as a 
 farmer in Ulster County. He died in West 
 Saugcrties. Mr. and Mrs. Dibbell liave four 
 children— P'lavius, Estella, Agnes, and Kl- 
 mira. 
 
 Mr. Dibi)ell is a Democrat in jiolitics. He 
 
 has served on town, county, and State commit- 
 tees, has been a delegate to a number of 
 comity ant! State conventions, and was Ta.\ 
 Collector two terms. He is a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias, in which he has held a 
 number of the offices, and belongs to the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He and Mrs. 
 Dibbell are members of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. 
 
 (5 1 HOMAS R. POTTER, a prosperous 
 q )\ farmer of Glen\ille, .Schenectady 
 County, N. Y. , was born in this town, Decem- 
 ber 2, 1837, son of Johnson and Susan M. 
 (Romeyn) Potter. His parents were born in 
 .Saratoga County, the father in Galway, June 
 25, 1803, and the mother in Clifton Park, 
 July I, 1807. The paternal grandfather was 
 Simeon Potter, who came to Glenville about 
 tiie year 1S09, and settled upim a farm in tiie 
 north-west part of the township, where he re- 
 sided for the rest of his life. His funeral 
 w-as the first one held in the Glenville Re- 
 formed church. The maiden name of his wife 
 was Phcebe A. Beach. 
 
 Johnson Potter, the father, came with his 
 parents to Glenville when si.x )-ears old, and 
 was reared to agricultural pursuits. He became 
 one of the stirring men of his day, and owned 
 a farm of one hundred and forty- eight acres, 
 which is now occupied by his son, .Spencer .S. 
 Potter. He served as a Trustee of the town 
 and as Commissioner of Highways. In ]ioli- 
 tics he supported the Democratic party. John- 
 son and .Susan M. Potter were the parents of 
 
G. i\. FKISBIE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 17 
 
 seven children, all of whom grew to maturity, 
 and four are living, namely: Jedcdiah D., a 
 resident of Chicago; Thomas R., the subject 
 of this sketch; Spencer S. , who resides at the 
 homestead, as above mentioned; and J. Antoi- 
 nette, wife of William H. Hollinbeck, of 
 Hoffman's Ferry. The others were: Phcebe 
 Ann, Harriet N., and Fannie E. The father 
 died July 5, 1891, surviving the mother, who 
 died January 20, 1885. 
 
 Thomas R. Potter acquired a district-school 
 education. Like his ancestors he has followed 
 agriculture with success, for many years culti- 
 vating a farm of one hundred and twenty-six 
 acres. 
 
 Mr. Potter contracted the first of his two 
 marriages January 6, 1S61, with Jane Ann Van 
 Wormer, who died Jime 9, 1893, leaving two 
 children — Frank and Eliza J. Frank, who is 
 in the insurance business, married Nellie 1". 
 Bennett, of Lansingburg, Rensselaer Count}', 
 and has four children — Lelia B., Jennie E., 
 Thomas R., and Henry ]?. Eliza J. is the 
 wife of Elmer W. Kelderhouse, of Hoffmans, 
 and has one daughter, Hazel L. On January 
 26, 1898, Mr. Potter married for his second 
 wife Mrs. Effie C. Van Wormer, daughter of 
 Abram S. and Bernetta M. (Dunham) Eode- 
 wick and widow of Oscar V^an Wormer. Her 
 father was a native of Schodack, Rensselaer 
 County, and her mother of Lexington, N.Y. 
 Mrs. Potter had four children by her first 
 marriage, namely: Nancy B., Bessie R. , and 
 l?lanche L. Van Wormer, who are living; and 
 Jennie Inez, deceased. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Potter is a Democrat, and 
 
 served with ability as Supervisor five years. 
 He belongs io Touareuna Lodge, No. 35, 
 I. O. O. F. , and he and Mrs. Potter are mem- 
 bers of Gold Medal Lodge, No. 554, Patrons 
 of Industry. 
 
 /^TrANDISON N. FRISHIE, of Mid- 
 V|^J_ dleburg, N.Y., president of the 
 Middleburg & Schoharie Railroad and an ex- 
 tensive dealer in real estate, is a native of 
 Roxbury, Delaware County, this State, born 
 on May 24, 1831, son of William and Marilia 
 (Norton) Frisbie. He received a common- 
 school education, and at seventeen years of 
 age was apprenticed to learn the harness- 
 maker's trade of his brother at J''ultunham. 
 Three years later he became equal partner. 
 Subsequently he bought out the business and 
 conducted it alone for some time. In 1854 he 
 began the manufacture of harnesses in Middle- 
 burg, and, being . the only person engaged 
 here in that line of industry, met with great 
 success, and did a most profitable business. 
 In 1S67 he purchased a half-interest in the 
 general store of Charles Earles ; and some 
 years later he bought a half-interest in the 
 firm of W. G. Lounsbury & Co., in the hard- 
 ware trade. Subsequently his two sons, 
 Daniel D. ami George D., were taken into 
 partnership; and in time the entire manage- 
 ment of the business passed into their hands, 
 Mr. Frisbie himself giving his attention to 
 real estate and insurance, which have since 
 been his princi])al lines of activity. He has 
 managed large real estate transactions, and has 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 built a !uimber of fine iioiiscs. liis present 
 residence, which is one of the finest in town, 
 is one which he has remodelled. 
 
 Since March 25, 1878, Mr. I'risbie has been 
 ]ircsident and general manager of the Middle- 
 bnrg & Schoharie Railroad, nuich of whose 
 success is due to him. This roail, which was 
 constructeil under the authority of a legislati\e 
 enactment of May 8, 1867, is six miles in 
 length, and connects Middleburg and Scho- 
 harie villages. The road and trains are con- 
 tinued five miles farther north to a junction 
 with the Delaware & Mutlson, but the Scho- 
 harie valley roail has greatl)' handicapped the 
 Middleburg Compan\-, since the latter de- 
 pends uijon the northern stretch as an outlet. 
 At one time it w^ould have been possible to 
 purchase the Schoharie road, and Mr. Frisbie 
 strenuousl)' urged that this might be done, 
 offering to make a subscri])tion of five thousand 
 dollars for the [lurjiosc. Since then it has 
 been impossible to buy it. It may be inter- 
 esting to review here in brief the history of 
 the inception and growth of the Middleburg 
 branch. When the Delaware & Hudson had 
 been built as far as Oneonta, and the people of 
 Schoharie had determined to connect with it 
 there, a few prominent men of this town met 
 at a hotel, and, after carefully considering the 
 matter, decided that the)' would also make a 
 junction at Schoharie by raisirig one hundred 
 tlmusand dnllars, half of which wouUl be sub- 
 scribed by the town and the other half b)' pri- 
 vate individuals. As a matter of fact, the 
 total capitalization, full)- [laid in, was but 
 ninety-two thousand dcdlars. The tcjwn was 
 
 bonded but comparatively little to raise the 
 lull amount of its subscrijit ion. The bonds of 
 the comjiany, which were placed at par (sc\'en 
 per cent, interest), were retired in 1893, prin- 
 cipal and interest, by James Borst, railroad 
 commissioner. The individual subscribers to 
 the stock numbered abt)ut seventy-five, and in- 
 cluded many small h(dders in and about ^lid- 
 dleburg, about seventeen thousand dollars 
 being in Albany holdings and the balance in 
 New York. No indebtedness was incurred 
 in the construction and equipment of the road, 
 as one of the first resolutions passetl by the di- 
 rectors had been that work was to stop as soon 
 as ftmds were wanting. The road is now in 
 paying condition, and shows clearly that it has 
 been most efficiently managed. Mr. Frisbie 
 is one of the first and largest local subscribers 
 to the stock of the First National 15ank, and 
 from the time of its organi2ation has been its 
 \icepresident. 
 
 In 1858 Mr. Frisbie was united in marriage 
 with Kate Dodge, daughter of Daniel D. 
 Dodge, late of this town. Mr. Dodge was a 
 prominent merchant antl for one year member 
 of tlie State Assembly. Mrs. Frisbie departed 
 this life in June, 1898. She was the mother 
 of four children, namely; Daniel D. and 
 George D., the sons above mentioned; and 
 two daughters, Laura and lunma. Laura is 
 now the wife of Dow Heekman, whose biog- 
 raph\' may be tound on another ]iage of the 
 Re\iI'.w. All these children are graduates of 
 Ilartwick Seminary in Otsego Count)', an in- 
 stitution of which Mr. Frisbie has for many 
 years been treasurer anil trustee. Mr. Frisbie 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 '9 
 
 and his family are members of the Lutheran 
 church, and Mr. Frisl)ie is an Elder in the 
 church. He was for several years superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday-school. 
 
 fp)TENRY T. BOTSFORD, a leading 
 farmer of Greenville, Greene County, 
 N. Y., was born in this town on De- 
 cember 18, 1845, son of Dr. Gideon and Maria 
 L. (Tallmadge) Botsford. Dr. Botsford's 
 grandfather, Gideon Botsford, Sr. , resided in 
 Newtown, Conn. He was possessed of liberal 
 means, had large influence in his community, 
 and represented his town in the councils of his 
 State. Amos, one of his thirteen children 
 and the grandfather of Henry T. Botsford, 
 was born in Newtown on F"cbruary 13, 1780. 
 
 Having obtained an academic education, 
 Amos Botsford entered upon the study of 
 medicine at the age of eighteen years, received 
 his diploma at twenty-one years, and im- 
 mediately afterward came to the new town of 
 Greenville and settled for the practice of his 
 profession. Dr. Amos Botsford was married 
 on September 20, 1801, to Elizabeth Clark, 
 daughter of Joseph Clark, of Connecticut; and 
 his house-keeping began in what has since been 
 known as the Ell. Knowles place. A few 
 years after he purchased a lot and built the 
 house in which Pierce Stevens now resides. 
 Later he jmrchased of Jonathan Sherrill the 
 lot and dwelling now occupied by his son-in- 
 law, Dr. B. S. McCabe, and there resided 
 until his death. 
 
 " For many years Dr. Amos Botsford was 
 
 the only physician of standing or professional 
 ability in this section of the country, conse- 
 quently his services were much sought and his 
 labors were arduous. His custom when visit- 
 ing his patients was to ride on horseback. 
 Few men possessed a finer physique than the 
 Doctor. Of dignified appearance, he com- 
 manded the respect of all, even at first sight. 
 He was a faithful, intelligent, and successful 
 practitioner for over fifty years. He repre- 
 sented his town in the Board of Supervisors in 
 the years 1826, 1827, 1831, 1834, and 1849. 
 He was one of the incorporators of Greenville 
 Academy. He was a faithful member of the 
 Presbyterian church in Greenville, and for 
 many years an acting Elder in it. He died 
 on August 16, 1864. His wife died Decem- 
 ber 3, 1855. 
 
 " There were born to them two sons and two 
 daughters. Eliza, the eldest, born June 5, 
 1807, was married to Charles Callender, and 
 died April 4, 1871, leaving three children — 
 John, Charles, and David. Of these John is 
 engaged in the manufacture of brick in l^oston. 
 Charles (deceased) was a manufacturer of paint 
 in Newark, N.J. David is now deceased. 
 Clark Botsford, the second child of Dr. Amos, 
 was born September 15, 1808. He was grad- 
 uated from Union College at the age of nine- 
 teen. He then studied law, and subsequently 
 practised his pjrofession in the western part of 
 the State. Mary L., the youngest child, mar- 
 ried Dr. B. S. McCabe, and has continued to 
 reside in the house where she was born and in 
 which her parents died." 
 
 Gideon Botsford, third child of Dr. Amos, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIFAV 
 
 and father of Henry T. Botsford, was born on 
 June 5, 181 I. He obtainctl a .n'ood education 
 at (ircenville Academy, and subsequently, in 
 1832, was graduated from the Fairfield Medical 
 College. He began the practice of medicine 
 with his father, and for fifty years continued to 
 devote his entire energies to the work of the 
 profession he so much loved. Like his father 
 he was a man of commanding appearance and 
 agreeable address, and like him he won and 
 enjoyed the respect and confidence of the com- 
 nnuiity. Kver active, and ha\ing in view the 
 improvement of his native \'illage, he never 
 lost an opportunity to promote the iiublic wel- 
 fare. He was for many years an Elder of the 
 Presbyterian church, of which from early life he 
 was a faithful member. He served as a promi- 
 nent member of the Board of Trustees of Green- 
 ville Academy. The Doctor's wife, Maria 
 L. , was the daughter of Dr. Henry Talimadge, 
 and a sister of Mrs. John G. Hart. (See 
 sketch of John G. Hart.) Of the four chil- 
 dren born to her, two are living — Henry T. 
 and Anna M. Dr. l^otsford was a Democrat 
 in politics, and ser\'ed the town as Supervisor 
 for two terms. 
 
 Henry T. Botsford resided with his father 
 u]) to the time of the lattcr's death. In 1878 
 he purchased of Robert Hawley a farm that he 
 owned for ele\en years, antl in 1890 he bought 
 the farm which is now his home. His house, 
 which is the finest in the village, was begun 
 in 1 89 1 and completed in 1892. Mr. Botsford 
 is one of the largest land-owners in the town. 
 He now carries on the homestead farm of 
 twenty acres o])posite his own, the Gideon 
 
 Hickock farm of one hundi"etl acres, and the 
 George Conklin farm of two hundred and 
 twenty acres. He is a man of wide reading, 
 and especially well informed on topics of pub- 
 lic interest. 
 
 Mr. Botsford married in 1882 Mary, daugh- 
 ter of Thomas and luiiily Robbins, and a 
 native of Greenville. Her father was a car- 
 penter by trade, and he also carried on a farm. 
 He died at the age of seventy-one, having 
 been twice married. His wife, ICmily, wdio 
 was born in Greenxille, died in i8gi. Of her 
 two children Mrs. Botsford is the only one 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. ]?otsford have one 
 child, Frances Helena by name. In politics 
 Mr. Botsford is a Democrat. He has dealt to 
 cpiite an e.xtent in real estate. He and his 
 wife are members of the Presbyterian church, 
 anil he has been one of its trustees for many 
 years. 
 
 ARMON BECKl'.R, who.sc death oc- 
 curred January 18, 1897, at the home- 
 stead in Cobleskill, N. V. , now 
 occupied by Mrs. ]-5eckcr antl her daughters, 
 was during his long life an esteemed citizen of 
 this town and one of its successful farmers. 
 He was born June 19, 18 13, at Duancsburg, 
 Schenectady Count)', antl was a son of Nicho- 
 las Becker. He came from jiatriotic stock, 
 both his jiaternal graiullathcr, Ca]itain Jf)hn 
 ]5ecker, antl his maternal grandfather, John 
 Ferguson, ha\ing fought as brave .soldiers in 
 the Revolutionary War, the former command- 
 ing a company of minute-men. 
 
 Nichtjlas Becker li\ctl in Duanesburg some 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 years after his marriage to Jean Ferguson of 
 Edinburgh, Scotland; but in 1823 he came 
 with his family to Cobleskill, and, taking up 
 a tract of forest -covered land, began the 
 laborious task of clearing a farm and establish- 
 ing a home. 
 
 Harmon Becker was a lad of ten years when 
 he came here with his parents. He assisted in 
 the pioneer labor of reclaiming a farm from the 
 forest, and, having subsequently succeeded to 
 its ownership, was here industriously and pros- 
 perously engaged iii general farming and saw- 
 milling to the close of his life of eighty-three 
 years. He was a stanch Democrat in his po- 
 litical affiliations for the greater part of his 
 life, and served as Supervisor two terms and as 
 School Inspector a number of years. In his 
 last years he voted with the Prohibition [larty, 
 believing strongly in the equal suffrage plank 
 of its platform. A valued member of the Lu- 
 theran church, he held nearly all the offices 
 connected with that organization, and for 
 thirty-si.x consecutive years was superintendent 
 of its Sunday-school. 
 
 On January 17, 1849, ^^- Becker married 
 Miss Julia A. Myer, who was born in Barner- 
 ville, N. Y, Her father, Stephen Myer, was 
 of Dutch extraction. The emigrant ancestor of 
 the Myer family came to America from Hol- 
 land in old Colonal times, and was one of the 
 original settlers of Ulster Count}', in this 
 State. Mrs. Becker's paternal grandfather, 
 Peter L. Myer, was born and brought up in 
 Saugertics, Ulster County. Removing thence 
 to Schcjharie County, he devoted his energies to 
 tilling the soil. His death occurred at the 
 
 venerable age of ninety-one years. He, too, 
 served with honor in the Revolutionary War. 
 Stephen Myer continued during his life in 
 the occupation to which he was trained, and in 
 addition to general farming carried on a sub- 
 stantial business as a miller, owning and op- 
 erating both a saw-mill and a grist-mill. He 
 lived to be eighty-one years of age. His wife, 
 whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mowers, 
 was born in Ulster County, a daughter of Jacob 
 Mowers. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Myer had 
 four children, two of whom are still living, 
 namely: Mrs. Becker; and her sister, Sally 
 C. , who is the wife of Charles Ryder. Mrs. 
 Myer died at the age of eighty-one years. 
 Both she and her husband were active mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran church, in which he filled 
 all the offices. He was also prominent in 
 local affairs, and for a number of years served 
 as Highway Commissioner. 
 
 Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Becker — Elizabeth Jean and Mary Isadore. 
 Mrs. Becker anil her daughters live on the 
 home farm, which they have managed with 
 success since Mr. Becker's death. They carry 
 on general farming, using judgment in all mat- 
 ters pertaining to the care of their one hundred 
 and seventy-five acres. A part of the land is 
 devoted to grazing, and a part to the raising of 
 wheat, corn, and hay. They also continue 
 the saw-mill business. Mrs. Becker and the 
 Misses Becker are faithful members of the 
 Lutheran church, and also of the Woman's 
 Christian Temperance Union. 
 
 The history of the Harmon Becker home- 
 stead is unique in that for fifty-six years no 
 
BlOGKAl'lllCAL RE\'IE\V 
 
 death occurred on the place, either of its 
 owners or family, or of the men or niaitis 
 em|)lo)ecl by them during that time. The 
 careful l)-kept records show that more than 
 ninety souls lived, either permanently or tem- 
 porarily, on the farm during those years. 
 
 STEPHEN A. CURTIS, an account- 
 ant in the Schenectady freight office 
 of the Delaware & Hudson Canal 
 Company Railway, was born on January 8, 
 1S50, in ]51enheim, Schoharie County, N. Y. 
 That town was the native place of his parents, 
 Stephen L. and Eliza (Maham) Curtis. His 
 grandfather, Benjamin P. Curtis, who did gar- 
 rison duty at Sackett's Harbor, N.Y. , chu'ing 
 the War of 18 12, went to Blenheim from 
 Duanesburg, Schenectady County, N.Y. Jo- 
 seph Curtis, the father of ]5enjamin P., came 
 from Litchfield, Conn., to New York State 
 soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, 
 and, clearing a farm in the wilderness, suc- 
 ceeded through his energy and perseverance in 
 establishing a comfortable home. Of the chil- 
 dren of Stephen L. and Eliza Curtis there are 
 but two survi\-ors : Stephen A., the subject of 
 this sketch; and Stanley D., who is now sta- 
 tion agent for the ndaware & Pludson River 
 Railway at Plattsburg, N.Y. He married 
 Harriet Gardner, and has three sons, namely : 
 Stanley, born in i8cS6; Charles, born in 1889; 
 and George T. , born in 1892. 
 
 Stephen A. Curtis acquired his preliminary 
 education in the jjublic schoolsof Blenheim and 
 Jefferson, and comjdeted his studies at the semi- 
 
 nar)' in -Stamford, N. V., where he was fitted for 
 educational work. l'"or a number of )ears he was 
 a successful teacher in Schoharie ami Broome 
 Counties. Coming to Schenectady in 1881, he 
 entered the freight office of the Delaware & 
 Hudson Canal Company Railway as book- 
 keeper, and here after eighteen years of faith- 
 ful service he remains at this day, a valuable 
 member of their clerical force. 
 
 Mr. Curtis married l^lla M. Danforth, 
 daughter of Elijah Danforth, of Jefferson, N.\'. 
 They have one daughter, Adeline. She is the 
 wife of Ira Brownell, of Schenectady, and has 
 one child, I'lleanor, born in 1897. 
 
 Mr. Ciutis has been (piite active in ]niblic 
 affairs, having served as E.xcise Commissioner 
 and upon the board of United States Supervi- 
 sors. Politically, he acts with the Democratic 
 party. He is Past Dictator of Lodge No. 3715, 
 Knights of Honor; is a charier member antl 
 liy ilispensation I'irst Prophet of Saugh-Naugh- 
 ta-da Tribe, No. 123, Improved Order of Red 
 Men. He attends the Congregational church, 
 and is now serving as a trustee. 
 
 ^"fON. SIMON J. schermi:kiiokn, 
 
 an ex-member of Congress, one of 
 the most prominent men of Rotter- 
 dam, N.\'. , was born in this town, Se]3tember 
 26, 1827, son of Jacob I. and Maria (\'eddcr) 
 -Schermeilioin. His father was born in Rot- 
 terdam in 1789, and his mothei' was born here 
 in 1788. Mr. .Sclieinierhorn is a descendant 
 in the eighth generation of Jacob Janse Scher- 
 merhorn, who arrived from Holland about the 
 
J"^ 
 
 JUSKl'H MALCOLM. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ZS 
 
 year 1650, and founded the family which since 
 that date has been prominently identified with 
 Rotterdam and vicinity. The majority of its 
 representatives have been extensive farmers. 
 Jacob I. Schermerhorn, the father above named, 
 was a leading sjiirit in local public affairs, and 
 served with ability as Supervisor. 
 
 Simon J. Schermerhorn acquired the usual 
 district-school education provided for the chil- 
 ilren of his day, and he certainly made good 
 use of his meagre opportunities. Reared a 
 farmer, like most of his neighbors, he has fol- 
 lowed farming with unusual success, and he 
 still has large agricultural interests. He has 
 also dealt extensively in broom corn, and for 
 thirty years he was engaged in the manufacture 
 of brooms. He has business interests in other 
 directions, and is vice-president of the Mohawk 
 National Bank of Schenectady. 
 
 On February 4, 1857, Mr. Schermerhorn was 
 joined in marriage with Helen Veeder, who 
 was born in Woe.stina, March 29, 1837, daugh- 
 ter of Harman and Eleanor (Truax) Veeder. 
 Her father was born in Rotterdam, and her 
 mother was a native of Schenectady. Mr. and 
 M"s. Schermerhorn have five children living; 
 namely, Mary V., Sarah, Alice A., Andrew T., 
 and Simon. 
 
 Mr. Schermerhorn 's public record, which is 
 familiar to the readers of the I'iEViEW, deserves 
 more space than can consistently be allotted 
 to a brief sketch. His efforts in behalf of 
 improvements during his several terms as Super- 
 visor, as well as the advance made in educa- 
 tional facilities while he was Commissioner of 
 that department for this county, fully merited 
 
 the hearty commendation which they received. 
 He ably represented this district in the Assem- 
 bly during the session of 1862, was a Presiden- 
 tial Elector on the Cleveland ticket in 18S8, 
 and as a member of the Fifty-third Congress 
 he supported such measures as were in his es- 
 timation calculated to bestow the most benefit 
 on the nation as a whole. Mr. and Mrs. Scher- 
 merhorn are members of the Dutch Reformed 
 church. 
 
 OSEPH MALCOLM, of Catskill, N.Y., 
 head of the firm of Malcolm & Co., and 
 one of the oldest woollen manufacturers 
 in the State, was born in Middlebury, Vt. , on 
 August 24, 1838, son of Joseph and Harriet 
 (Hrundage) Malcolm. His paternal grand- 
 father, James Malcolm, was a silk weaver, 
 who lived and died in Paisley, Scotland. 
 
 Joseph Malcolm was born in Scotland, and 
 lived there until si.xteen years of age, when he 
 came to America and found employment as a 
 mill operative in Middlebury, Vt., where in 
 time he worked his way to the superintendency 
 of a large mill. Later he had a mill of his 
 own in Matteawan, N. Y. , and subsequently 
 one in Pittsfield, Mass. He retired from busi- 
 ness in Pittsfield, and died there at fifty-two 
 years of age. In religious faith he and his 
 wife were Presbyterians. Mrs. Harriet B. 
 Malcolm was born in Cornwall, Orange 
 County, this State. She died at the age of 
 seventy, having been the mother of eight chil- 
 dren. Of these, two died in infancy. Will- 
 iam and Abraham are now deceased, and 
 James, Joseph, Samuel, and George are living. 
 
26 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Samuel Malcolm resides in New York City, 
 and James and George are in Pittsfield. 
 
 Joseph Malcolm bej^an his working life at 
 twelve years of age, going into a woollen-mill 
 at Pittsfield, Mass., as a wool sorter. He had 
 worked his way up to being in charge of the 
 card and spinning room, when he enlisted, in 
 1857, in Company D of the Eighth United 
 States Infantry, which during his connection 
 with it was on duty at Castle Williams and at 
 Fort Columbus, New York Harbor. Dis- 
 charged in 1859, Mr. Malcolm returned to his 
 position in the Pittsfield mill, and he subse- 
 quently remained there until some time after 
 the breaking out of the Civil War. For one 
 hundred days in the early part of the struggle 
 for the Union, he was in the Allen Guard, sta- 
 tioned at Worcester and in l^oston. On Sep- 
 tember 18, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, 
 Forty-ninth Regiment, Massachusetts Volun- 
 teers, which left the State in November under 
 command of Colonel William F. Bartlett, 
 sailed for New Orleans in January, 1863, and 
 a few months later took part in the memorable 
 siege of Port Hud.son, where occurred some of 
 the most desperate fighting of the war. Pri- 
 vate Malcolm, always showing his sturdy 
 Scotch determination when duty was most per- 
 ilous, was the first man to volunteer for the 
 storming party. He doubtless inherited mar- 
 tial ardor, as his mother's father was a soldier 
 in the War of 18 12, and her grandfather in the 
 Revolution. Ilis five brothers also enlisted, 
 and w-erc in ser\ice from two to four years. 
 One lost his life in the war, and one was 
 wounded. 
 
 After being mustered out at Pittsfield, 
 Mass., September i, 1863, Mr. Malcolm went 
 to Little Falls, N. Y., and was there for two 
 years as superintendent of the Mohawk Wool- 
 len Mills. Following that he was succes- 
 sively superintendent in the knitting-mill at 
 Amsterdam, N. Y. , in Troy, again at Amster- 
 dam, then in Cooperstown, N.Y. , where he 
 was both superintendent and a partner in 
 Groat Van Brocklin's Mill. Going back once 
 more to Amsterdam, he started a woollen in- 
 dustry in company with one of his present 
 partners, Mr. Pettingill. In 1886 he came to 
 Catskill, where he has since been most success- 
 ful in the management of his woollen-mill. 
 In this plant one hundred and seventy hands 
 are employed, and all kinds of men'.s, 
 women's, and children's underwear are manu- 
 factured. The mill is the second largest in 
 this section. 
 
 Mr. Malcolm's first wife was before her 
 marriage Julia Marsh. She died leaving one 
 daughter, Hattie L. , now the wife of Hamil- 
 ton Jones, a plumber of Catskill, of the firm 
 of H. T. Jones & Sons. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
 have one child, Dorothy. Mr. Malcolm's sec- 
 ond wife, whose maiden name was Jennie 
 Lewis, is the mother of one child, James L. 
 
 In politics Mr. Malcolm is a Republican. 
 He has been a member of the Catskill Hoard of 
 Education, and he takes a lively interest in all 
 matters pertaining to the general welfare. He 
 is a director in the Catskill National Pank, 
 and was formerly a director in the Young 
 Men's Christian Association. He is a Mason, 
 havinfr membershii) in the Plue Lodge of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 27 
 
 North Iloosick and in the Royal Arch Chapter 
 of Catskill. Of the last-named body he is a 
 charter member, and he has served it as scribe. 
 He is a member of the Knights of Pythias of 
 this town; of J. W. Watson Post, G. A. R. ; 
 of the A. O. U. W. ; and of the Rip Van 
 Winkle Club. He has been delegate from the 
 post to the State commandery, but in general 
 has refused offices in the \arious fraternal or- 
 ganizations to which he belongs, as the de- 
 mands of his business leave him little leisure. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm are members of the 
 Reformed church. 
 
 /^^TeORGE HANER, M.D., an able 
 \_f^J_ jjhysician and prominent citizen of 
 Tannersville, Greene County, N.Y. , was born 
 in Prattsville, Greene County, on the 6th of 
 August, 1847. His sole heritage was that of 
 an unsullied name and a constitution which 
 had been developed through generations of in- 
 dustrious sons of the soil. For three genera- 
 tions the Haners and their wives have been 
 hard-working, persevering, and in some degree 
 successful citizens of Greene County. 
 
 Martinus Haner, the Doctor's great-grand- 
 father, was one of the pioneers who came to 
 Prattsville from the more settled regions of 
 Columbia County. He inmiediately engaged 
 in peeling bark for the tanneries, which at that 
 time formed the chief industry of the neigh- 
 borhood. This pursuit he followed as long as 
 his health permitted him to work. His son 
 Martin continued the gathering and sale of 
 bark, but besides this he cleared a large farm 
 
 and won by his diligent application a degree of 
 prosperity and comfort. 
 
 Martin Haner married Miss Shoemaker, a 
 native of Columbia County, by whom he had 
 seven children, namely: Isaac; Henry; Will- 
 iam M. , the Doctor's father; Patty M. ; PZliza- 
 beth ; Lavinia; and Mima Ann. Patty M. 
 married Samuel Chamberlain, who is no longer 
 living; Lavinia became Mrs. Spencer; Mima 
 Ann was married to Henry Palmer; and 
 P^lizabeth became the wife of P^dward Cronk. 
 Martin Haner brought up his children in such 
 a way as to fit them for the battle of life; and, 
 if he did not leave them a fortune, he at least 
 taught them to win their own way to respect 
 and independence. His wife died at the age 
 of fifty, but for a few years more he remained 
 with his family, closing an honorable life, with 
 the love and respect of all who knew him, at 
 the age of si.xty-si.x. 
 
 William M. Haner, like his brothers and 
 sisters, obtained his education in the common 
 schools of the town. In the course of time he 
 took possession of a part of the old homestead 
 property, which he farmed with some success 
 until 1866, when he removed to Jevvett. 
 There he purchased a farm, but he only occu- 
 pied it one year; and then selling it he re- 
 moved to the town of Ro.xbury, near Grand 
 Gorge, Delaware County. Here he purchased a 
 large dairy farm, which he continued to occupy 
 until 1895. He is now (July, 1899) seventy- 
 six years of age, and is living with his children 
 at Tannersville. He is a Democrat in poli- 
 tics, and has held office as Road Commissioner 
 and Overseer of the Poor. 
 
28 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 His wife, Cornelia, was a daughter of Jacob 
 and Jennie (Stanley) Maginncs, who also were 
 among the first settlers in Prattsville. She be- 
 came the mother of eight children, four of 
 whom are still living, namely: George, the 
 subject of this sketch ; Jennie K. ; Homer H. ; 
 and Clark K. Jennie E. is the wife of 
 Charles Voss, the genial Postmaster of Tan- 
 nersville, a sketch of whom will be found 
 elsewhere in the Review. Homer has been 
 for twenty years general agent for the Davis 
 Sewing Machine Company, and for upward of 
 three years he re]jresented their interests in 
 Australia. Clark is a book-keeper and clerk, 
 and resides at Tannersville. ]\Irs. Cornelia 
 M. Haner died on May 15, 1899, at the age 
 of seventy-three. She was for many years a 
 useful anil honored member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that George Haner 
 started in life with no great advantages, but 
 such as he had he turned to the very best ac- 
 count. All that the common schools of Pratts- 
 ville had to give he devoured with avidity, 
 and si)eedily made his way at eighteen years of 
 age from the ini])ils' bench to the teacher's 
 desk. Quiet and reserved though he was, his 
 efficient work soon called the attention of trus- 
 tees and school commissioners, and he suc- 
 cessively and successfully taught in the schocds 
 of Red Falls, Jewett Centre, Windham, and 
 Prattsville in Greene County, and Gilboa, Gal- 
 lupville, and Middleburg in the neighboring 
 county of Schoharie. With the power to 
 teach came the love of and craving for more 
 knowledge and he very soon proceeded to Fort 
 
 lulward Institute, where he took an advanced 
 course of study. A period was, however, put 
 to his attendance at this school through lack 
 of funds, but, nothing daunted, he turned to 
 manual labor to supply his needs in this direc- 
 tion. He obtained work as a carpenter, and 
 it was while thus engaged that a direction was 
 given to his mind which determined his choice 
 of a lifework. He was assisting to build a 
 house for Dr. D. M. Leonard at -Broome 
 Centre, Schoharie County, and in discussing 
 his future with that gentleman he was advised 
 by him to adopt the prcjfession of medicine. 
 Taking this advice, he at once began his studies 
 with Dr. Leonard, with whom he remained 
 until he entered the Medical College of the 
 New York University, from w^hich he was 
 graduated in the class of 1877. Thus equip])ed. 
 Dr. Haner took up his residence in the town of 
 Conesville, where he practised with success 
 until 1.S80, when he came to Tannersville. 
 
 In 1S80 Tannersville was only a small vil- 
 lage, and the arrival of a young doctor with a 
 university di])loma and some experience was 
 indeed an acquisition. He very speedily im- 
 pressed the inhabitants with his ])rofessional 
 knowledge and ability, and as the years have 
 rolled along his practice has increased and his 
 reputation as a skilful physician has continued 
 to grow. P"or ten years he practised without 
 opposition. Besides his ortlinar)' practice he 
 has a large clientele among the many city 
 boarders who visit Tannersville during the 
 summer months, and among whom he is de- 
 servedly pojuilar, both from a i)rofessional and 
 social point of view. His jjresent residence 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 29 
 
 was erected in 1881, but it has been recently 
 enlarged and beautified and made conij^lete by 
 a most con\eiiient suite of offices. 
 
 In politics the Doctor is a Democrat. He 
 has twice represented his town as Supervisor, 
 and durint,' the latter term was chairman of the 
 board. The esteem of his fellow-citizens has 
 also been manifested in his election to the 
 office of Coroner for three terms of three years 
 each. 
 
 His public spirit has led him to take an 
 active interest in all that concerned the pros- 
 perity and development of the villa,i;e in which 
 he resides. He was one of the incorporators 
 and its first president. He took measures for 
 the layini,'^ out of its sidewalks, and was a 
 member of the building committee which 
 erected the first ])ublic school -building. 
 
 In 1S77 Dr. Haner was united in marriage 
 to Miss Agnes More, of Ro.xbury, Delaware 
 County, a daughter of Andrew and Ann E. 
 (Hardenburgh) More and a thirtl cousin of the 
 late Jay Gould. She had two sisters, Cornelia 
 and Kate, and she has one brother, Samuel P. 
 Kate was married to Mr. M. L. Benham. 
 Samuel P. More is a juiblisher in Great Bend, 
 Pa. Dr. and Mrs. Haner have one daughter, 
 Helen. 
 
 The Doctor is a charter member of the 
 Mount Tabor Lodge, F. & A. M., and be- 
 longed formerly to the Gilboa Lodge. He is 
 a member of the C(ninty Medical Society, of 
 which he has been secretary for three years, 
 and also of the New York Physicians' Mutual 
 Aid Association. 
 
 Dr. Haner is also a prominent and entiiusias- 
 
 tic member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 and actively and generously participated in the 
 movement which resulted in the erection of tlie 
 present beautiful edifice in Tannersville be- 
 longing to that body. He worked indefatiga- 
 bly in the erection of the Methodist Episcopal 
 parsonage, and to these objects combined has 
 contributed upward of five hundred dollars. 
 
 His interest in Sunday-school work dates 
 back to his Conesville days, when he was su- 
 perintendent of the school ; and ever since he 
 came to Tannersville he has been ready with 
 hand and brain, .sympathy and purse, to advance 
 the work of God in the church of his choice. 
 He has held almost every office that a layman 
 can hold, representing his brethren at iioth the 
 district and annual conferences, and is at the 
 present time a trustee. 
 
 Dr. Haner is yet in the prime of life, and if 
 spared will be of inestimable service to the 
 communitv amid which he resides. 
 
 IMEON LAPE, a thriving general 
 //^ merchant of Charlotteville, N. Y. , 
 was born in the town of .Summit, 
 Schoharie County, N.Y. , October 19, 1827, 
 son of Samuel and Lana Lape. His [xiternal 
 grandfathei', .Samuel Lape, who was the grand- 
 son of a German immigrant and the father of 
 several children that grew to maturity, was 
 formerly a thriving farmer of Sand Lake, N.Y. 
 Somewhat late in life he accompanied his son 
 -Samuel to .Summit, and his last days were 
 spent in this town. He was a member of the 
 Lutheran chLirch. 
 
3° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Samuel \a\])c, the younger,- Simoon I.ape's 
 father, served in the War <if 1S12. lie came 
 to Summit when a \-ouni;' man, and, settlinj,' 
 here upon a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, 
 which he afterward enlarged, he became one of 
 the most extensive farmers in this section. 
 Though not a seeker after place, lie consented 
 to hold some of the minor town offices. Origi- 
 nally a Democrat in politics, he afterward be- 
 came a Reiniblican. As one of the most active 
 and infiuential members of the Lutheran 
 cluuch, it was generally his lot to entertain 
 the preachers, and his family was taught to 
 believe that religious devotion was just as 
 necessar)- at home as in a place of public wor- 
 ship. He died at the age of seventy-three, his 
 wife surviving him several years. They were 
 the ])arents of si.xteen children, of whom ten 
 (lied in infanc)' and six lived to maturity, the 
 latter being: Luther, Simeon, John, (ieorge, 
 Josiah, and Elizabeth. Luthei' and Josiah 
 occupy the homestead. John is a resident of 
 East Worcester, N.^^ ; and Elizabeth, who 
 is the eldest, married Abraham Harrington, of 
 Worcester, where she resides. (jeorge, who is 
 living in Brooklyn, N.^'., was for a time en- 
 traged as teacher in the New \'ork Conference 
 Seminary and in civil engineering. 
 
 Simeon Lape was educated in the common 
 schools of Summit. Beginning industrial life 
 as a farmer, he followed that occupation vmtil 
 .thirty-eight years old, when, in partnership 
 with a Mr. Decker, he purchased the general 
 stock of goods of the store of La Monte & Co., 
 of Charlotteville, N.\'. This copartnership 
 lasted but about five months, at the end of 
 
 which time Mr. Decker withdrew, leaving his 
 associate sole projirietor of the establishment, 
 which for the past thirty-one years Mr. Lape 
 has carried on alone. As his trade developed, 
 he enlarged his facilities and increased his 
 stock, and for a number oi years he has 
 transacted an extensive general mercantile 
 business. Like his father he adheres to Re- 
 publican ]irinciples; and, while he in\'ariably 
 has refused to become a candidate for local 
 offices, he accepted the ai)])ointment of Post- 
 master, which he held in all for about twenty 
 years. 
 
 In 184S Mr. Lajie was united in marriage 
 with Miss Lucy La Monte, of Charlotteville, 
 daughter of Thomas \\'. and l-Hizabeth Maria 
 (Payne) La Monte. Mrs. Lape was a descend- 
 ant of John La Monte, of Coleraine, County 
 .\ntrim, Ireland. Her first -American ancestor 
 was Robert La Monte, who came to this coun- 
 try with his mother, the widow of John, and 
 settled in Columbia County, this State. 
 
 Her great-grandfather, William La Monte, 
 son of Robert, served in the Revolutionary 
 War, and was present at the surrender of Gen- 
 eral ]kngoyne. He married for his first wife 
 Mrs. Phcebe Perkins, born Goss, and settled 
 upon a farm in Noith Hinsdale, N.A'. After 
 her death he mined into the then wilderness 
 of Schoharie Count)-, locating in what is now 
 the town of Eulton, where he lixed to an ad- 
 vanced age. Mrs. Lape's grandfather, also 
 named William, was born in Hinsdale, Janu- 
 ary iT), 1784. When a }'oung man he settled 
 in b'ulton, but about the year 1806 removed to 
 Charlotteville, where he acquired possession of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 31 
 
 some seven luindred acres of land. An enter- 
 prising business man, he kept a country store, 
 and operated saw and grist mills. Being 
 familiar with common law, he acted as legal 
 adviser to his neighbors, pleaded their cases in 
 the lower courts, and was several times elected 
 a Justice of the Peace. In his religious belief 
 he was a Methodist. He died September 5, 
 1847. His wife, Jane, a daughter of Thomas 
 Stillwell, died August 25, 1863, aged eighty 
 years. They were the parents of six sons and 
 five daughters, all of whom married and be- 
 came the heads of families. 
 
 Thomas W. La Monte, Mrs. Lape's father, 
 was born in Fulton, August 29, 1 803. He 
 was a prominent business man of Charlotte- 
 \-ille in his day, and proprietor of the store 
 which is now owned by Mr. Lape. He was 
 also active in political and religious affairs, and 
 was one of the founders of the New York Con- 
 ference Seminary. He died June 3, 1853. 
 His wife died April 7, 1898, aged eighty- 
 seven years. She was the mother of thirteen 
 children: Jacob, I^ucy, Elizabeth, William 
 and David (twins), Thomas, Jennie, George, 
 Kate, Austin, Hannah, Maria, and Julia. All 
 the children received a good education. 
 Thomas was for a time engaged in teaching at 
 the Conference Seminary, but later became a 
 Methodist minister. Get)rge, who taught 
 school for some time in the South, became a 
 successful paper manufacturer and the owner 
 of a valuable patent. 
 
 In 1S50 Mr. Lape joined the Methodist 
 church, which he has since served as steward, 
 trustee, and su]jerintendent of the .Sunday- 
 
 school, also contributing liberally to its sup- 
 port. Mrs. Lape died October iS, 1896, leav- 
 ing no children. She was a member of the 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union and of 
 the Independent Order of Good Templars. 
 
 NDREW J. McMillan, who in the 
 fall of 1898 was elected Assemblyman 
 from Schenectady, is a thriving 
 farmer of Rotterdam, N. Y. He was born 
 upon the McMillan farm, a part of which he 
 occupies, on February 9, 1856, being the only^ 
 son of Andrew and Ellen (Darrow) McMillan. 
 His father was born here on January 12, 1832, 
 and his mother was born in Schenectady in 
 1832. This farm was the property of his pa- 
 ternal grandfather, James McMillan, a native 
 of New Scotland, who settled here about 
 seventy years ago, and who lived to be ninety- 
 one years old. The maiden name of James 
 McMillan's wife was Margaret VVingate. She 
 died at sixty-five. 
 
 Andrew McMillan, the father, succeeded to 
 the homestead, and is still actively engaged in 
 its cultivation. He has made various improve- 
 ments in the property, and is widely known as 
 a practical and successful agriculturist. In 
 politics he acts with the Republican party, 
 ami in his religious belief he is a Presbyterian. 
 Ellen, his wife, whom he married in 1844, has 
 had but one son, Andrew J., the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Andrew J. McMillan was educated in the 
 district schixds. As a youth he assisted his 
 father, from whom he obtained a good knowl- 
 
32 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 edge (if farming, aiul .since reaching manhood 
 he has tilled the soil ujjon his own account. 
 He has at his disposal one hundred and seventy- 
 seven acres, which he devotes to general farm- 
 ing, and raises excellent crops. 
 
 In November, 18.S2, Mr. .McMillan was 
 uniteil in marriage with Anna L. Litklle, who 
 was born in Duanesburg, daughter of Alexan- 
 der Liddle. A sketch of her family will be 
 found on another page of the Rk\ii.w. Mr. 
 and Mrs. McMillan ha\e one son — Everett, 
 who was born December J5, 1S1S4. 
 
 Mr. McMillan is now in his third year as 
 -Supervisor, and is rendering efficient service in 
 that capacil)-. I'oliticall}-, he is a Republican. 
 lie belongs to the Independent Order of Odd 
 l-"ellows, being a member of Lodge No, 171, 
 of Mount Pleasant. 
 
 ILMER E. GOODSELL, of Hunter, sta- 
 tion agent, telegraph operator, and 
 agent ni the American I'lxprcss Compan)' on 
 the Stony Chn-e iv Catskill Mountain Rail- 
 road, was born in Jewett on April 17, 1865, to 
 Amos and Harriet (Egbertson) Goodsell. His 
 great-grandfather Goodsell was one of the pio- 
 neer settlers of Jewett, coming to that ])lacc 
 from the .State of Connecticut. His grand- 
 father, John (Goodsell, who finished clearing 
 tiie tract of land taken up liy the great-grand- 
 father and spent his life engaged in farming, 
 died at the age of fifty-seven. John Goodscll's 
 wife, whose maiden name was Samantha Peck, 
 married for her first husband a Mr. Hogardus. 
 5he died at the age of fifty-foiu'. Hy her sec- 
 
 ond marriage she had ten children, as fidlows: 
 Amos, Amelia. ]\Iansfiehl, .Amanda, J. Iunor\', 
 Lois, Adela, Anna, Elbert, and -Sarah. 
 
 Amos (joodsell was reared on a farm, and 
 during boyhood he attended the common 
 schools of Jewett, his natiw: town. For over 
 twenty years he carried on his farm in Jewett 
 Centre. He then sold out, and since that time 
 he has been working where he jdeascd. He is 
 a Republican, and has held a number of town 
 offices. His wife, Harriet, who died in 1S84, 
 at the age of forty-eight, was a native of Jew- 
 ett, and the daughter of Jacob Egbertson, an 
 early settler and a farmer of that place. Mr. 
 Egbertson and his wife both died at the age of 
 eighty-two. Ihey had nine children ; namely, 
 John, Ju.stus, Eliza, Sally, Tully, Caroline, 
 Harriet, Jane, and Maria. .Amos and Harriet 
 Goodsell reared a faniih" of three children; 
 namely, Ella, George, and b'.lmer E. The 
 daughter, Ella, is the wife of D. Clarence 
 Gibbony, attorney-at-law, of Philadelphia; and 
 her brother George is employed by the Mis- 
 souri, Kansas & Texas Railroad at .St. Louis. 
 The parents were active members in the Meth- 
 odist b'.piscopal Church of Jewett. 
 
 Elmer E. Goodsell recei\ed a common-school 
 education. He then served some time as a 
 teacher, and he sub.sequently attended Green- 
 ville .Academy and Eastman's Husiness Col- 
 lege. He was graduated at the last-named in- 
 stitution in June, I 888, and shortly after came 
 to the Hunter station as assistant to Mr. Pur- 
 hans, who was the agent until 1894. When 
 Mr. Burhans left tlie place, Mr. (ioodsell was 
 appointed to succeed him, and in the few years 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 33 
 
 he has held the position he has made himself 
 exceedingly popular with both officials and 
 patrons of the road. He is furnished one as- 
 sistant the year through, and sometimes in the 
 summer three. Most of the telegraphing he 
 does himself. The Hunter station is the lar- 
 gest on the line, being moreover the terminal 
 station; and Mr. Goodsell is the oldest station 
 agent on the line as to time of service for this 
 compan}-. 
 
 In iSgi Mr. Goodsell was united in mar- 
 riage with Anna Bell Anderson, daughter of 
 George W. Anderson, coal and lumber dealer, 
 whose biographical sketch appears on another 
 page of this work. Mrs. Goodsell, who has 
 one sister, Mabel Anderson, is the mother of 
 two children — Marguerite and Anderson. 
 
 Mr. Goodsell is an ardent Keinil^lican, but 
 lie has refused all public offices. He is a 
 member of Mount Tabor Lodge, No. S04, 
 F. & A. M., of Hunter, and both he and Mrs. 
 Goodsell are members of the Methodist church 
 and workers in the Sunday-.school. Mr. Good- 
 sell was formerly secretary and librarian of the 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 ^^./^ICVMOUR BOUGHTON, a promi- 
 / — ^ nent resident of Charlotteville, was 
 born in Summit, November 17, 
 1S34, .son of Seymour and Phoebe (Mix) 
 Boughton. The father came here from Con- 
 necticut, settling first in Charlotteville, and 
 later moving to Summit \illage, where he 
 kept a hotel. He afterward engaged in the 
 cooper business, and also ran a distillery. 
 
 .Studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 
 1840, and thenceforward carried on a jirofitable 
 general law business. 
 
 Actively interested in public affairs, .Sam- 
 uel Boughton, the elder, was elected to the 
 Assembl}' on the Anti-rent ticket in 1S45, 
 was twice elected Supervisor as a Democrat, 
 was for some years a member of the county 
 committee, served with ability as Excise 
 Commissioner, and was Postmaster for eight 
 years. He was very popular with all classes 
 irrespective of part}', and Iiis personal charac- 
 ter was such as to fully merit the high esti- 
 mation in which he was held. He was an 
 active member of the l^nptist church. He re- 
 turned to Charlottex'ille in 1866, anil died here 
 in 1871, aged eighty-one years. Nine chil- 
 dren were born to him and his wife, Ph(fbe, 
 namel}' : Lucius, who died December 11, 
 1826; Harvey; Mary; .Squire, who died De- 
 cember g, i8]g; Phoebe; Polly; Louisa; Har- 
 mon K., who died in 185 i, aged twenty-four 
 years; and Seymour, the subject of this sketch, 
 he and his sister Mary being the onl)- sur- 
 vivors. 
 
 Seymour Boughton after finishing his educa- 
 tion learned the carriage painter's trade in 
 Cobleskill, mastering it without much diffi- 
 culty, as he had a natural genius for handling 
 the brush. Engaging in business for himself, 
 his first contract, which amountetl to two thou- 
 sand three hundretl dollars, was tendered him 
 by parties in Gallupville; and he subsequently 
 enlarged his business. I-^or many years he 
 conducted the largest carriage-making estab- 
 lishment in the county. He also did most of 
 
34 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 the rci)aiiing and painting in this and the ad- 
 jacent towns, and at one time he carried on 
 two shops. Of late he has been graekially 
 withdiawing from inisiness, liiit still continues 
 to fnlldw his trade to some extent. Mr. 
 Boughton's connection with public affairs 
 began as a boy in the Assembly at Albany, 
 and he was elected Town Clerk the year he be- 
 came a VDter. He afterward served as Con- 
 stable two years, helil some minor town nfficcs, 
 was elected Supervisor in 1878, reelected in 
 1879, was County Clerk from 1881 (o 1S88, 
 was Postmaster under Andrew Johnson and the 
 second Cleveland administration, and has been 
 a mcinhcr of the Democratic Town Committee 
 for many years. His political record is a most 
 honorable one, and it is worth}' of note that 
 while some of the offices to which he was 
 elected were iiotly contested, his candidacy for 
 a second term as Supervisor was without op]x)- 
 sition, a fact which demonstrates the confi- 
 dence of his fellow-townsmen in his abilit\ and 
 integrity. 
 
 Mr. Boughton contracted his first marriage 
 with Maggie I-'erguson, daughter of Thomas 
 Ferguson. .She bore him four children, 
 namely: Arthur J., l''rank, and Thomas G., 
 none of whom are living; and Charles F. , who 
 is a painter b)' trade and a musician of local 
 repute. l'"or his second wife he married 
 I'jnnia Nadlex', daughter of Christo]5her Nad- 
 ley, and bv this union he has two children — 
 l-'.dilh and Horatio .S. Boughton. 
 
 Mr. Houghton belongs to Jefferson Lodge, 
 No. 554, F. & A. M., and John L. Lewis 
 Chapter, No. 229, R. A. M. 
 
 r^^l 1:NRY C. van ZANDT, M.D., a 
 
 prominent plnsician of .Schenectady, 
 is a native of this city. He was 
 born on January 11, 1844, son of Gilbert and 
 Myra (H alii day) \'an Zandt. The family 
 of which he is a representative was founded in 
 America by Johannes \'an Zandt, who came 
 from Anhcim, Holland, in 1660, and whose 
 gra\'e is still visible in Trinit)' Churchyard, 
 New York City. 
 
 Peter P. \'an Zandt, a grandson of Johan- 
 nes, settled in Schenectady, and several of his 
 descendants have won distinction in this local- 
 ity. He was elected a member of the Assem- 
 bly, anil while in Alban\' he married a Miss 
 Munson, of Schoharie. Dr. \'an Zandt's 
 grantlfathcr was Garret't Van Zandt, who 
 served as a soldier in the War of 181 2, and 
 was stationed at Sackett's Harbor. The Doc- 
 tor's mother was a daughter of Judge Halliday, 
 of Rochester, N.Y. 
 
 Henry C. \'an Zandt jirepared for liis col- 
 legiate course at the Schenectady High 
 School, and was graduated from Union College 
 with the class of 1865. His preliminary med- 
 ical studies were pursued under the tlircction 
 of Dr. Vcdder, of Schenectaily ; and after grad- 
 uation from tlie /Mban)' Medical .School he 
 began the jiractice of his profession in this 
 cit\', where he has gained a high reputation. 
 He is also engaged in the drug business, and 
 has one of the best equipped apothecary estab- 
 lishments in this \'icinity. 
 
 Dr. \'an Zandt is a membci' of the sur- 
 geons' staff of I'^llis Hos|)ital, of Schenectady, 
 also a member of the Sclicnectad)' County 
 
H. C. VAN ZAXDT. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Medical Society and of the State Medical 
 Association. He belongs to St. George Lodge, 
 No. 6, F. & A. M. ; is a Trustee of Schau- 
 Naiigh-ta-da Tribe, No. 123, Improved Order 
 of Red Men; and is a member of the Holland 
 Society. 
 
 He married Hattie Hilderbrand, daughter of 
 Henry Hilderbrand, of Schenectady, N.Y. In 
 his religions belief the Doctor is an Episco- 
 palian, and is a warden of Christ's Church. 
 
 C*)!! IlOMAS DORMADY, a retired locomo- 
 q ) I tive engineer and a member of the 
 Schenectady Board of Aldermen, was born in 
 the town and county of Carlow, Ireland, Sep 
 tember 10, 1S27, son of Andrew and Bridget 
 (Rice) Dormady. Coming to Schenectady 
 with his parents when two years old, Thomas 
 Dormady passed through the common schools 
 of this city, and was graduated from the high 
 school. After learning the machinist's trade 
 in the railway shops at Albanj', he followed it 
 as a journeyman for a year, and then became a 
 locomotive engineer on the Mohawk & Hudson 
 River Railroad, which is now a part of the 
 New York Central system. His first engine, 
 which was imported from England in 1831, was 
 originally called the "John Bull," but on being 
 enlarged was renamed the ' Tiochester. " P'or 
 over forty years he ran a regular day train be- 
 tween Schenectad}', Albany, Utica, and Syra- 
 cuse, and in 1894 he practically retired. In 
 1 87 1 he was electeil to the Board of Aldermen 
 for three years, and he was afterward re- 
 elected for the two succeeding terms. As the 
 
 Democratic candidate for Mayor in 1879, he 
 lacked but three votes of lieing elected. In 
 1890 he was again a member of the upper 
 branch of the city government, and in 1897 he 
 began his fifth term in that bod}'. The ward 
 he represents is considered a Republican 
 stronghold, a fact which amjjly attests his 
 ability and populaiity. 
 
 Mr. Dormady married Mary Sheean, a native 
 of Troy, N.Y. , a daughter of Philip Sheean 
 (deceased). His children are: Thomas, horn 
 in 1858, a graduate of the high school and 
 now a telegraph operator in .Schenectady; 
 Annie, a graduate of St. John's Convent 
 School ; Libbie, now the widow of J. J. Mur- 
 phy ; and Bliilip, also a graduate of the high 
 school and at present in the employ of the 
 city. 
 
 Mr. Dormady belongs to the Brotherhood of 
 Locomotive Engineers, and has served as local 
 chief of Division 83, now Di\'ision 172. 
 
 OHN T. BENHAM, M.D., of Cones- 
 /TN I ville, N.Y., one of the best known phy- 
 sicians in this jiait of the country, was 
 born in Hudson, N.Y., October 19, 1823, son 
 of Dr. John P. and Elizabeth (.Smith) Benham. 
 He is a descenilant in the ninth generation of 
 his emigrant ancestor, who was an Englishman, 
 and is the fourth representative of the family 
 in a direct line to practise meilicine. Tbe 
 great-grandfather was Dr. Cornevius Benham, 
 wdio ]5ractiscd in Catskill, N. Y. , for many 
 years; and his widow, who was of Dutch de- 
 scent, married foi her second husband Dr. 
 
38 
 
 ];ioc;rai'hkal kf.view 
 
 Van lUncn, a rclati\c of President Martin \'an 
 liuren. Dr. Thomas IV'nliam, the grandfather, 
 practised in Ashhuid, N.V., where he died at 
 the afje of eif^chty-nine \'ears ; and two nt his 
 SODS, naniel\', John 1'. and Jacob, heeanie suc- 
 cessful pii\sicians. 
 
 J)r. lohn r. JV'uhain, the father, resided in 
 Hudson for many years, and then, moving 
 from that town to ("onesville, practised there 
 for the rest of liis life. He was favorably 
 known over a wide circuit as a cajmble jihysi- 
 cian, whose powers of endurance were unusually 
 vij^'orous ; and at the time of his death, which 
 occurred at the age of se\enty-three years, he 
 was the oldest active medical practitioner in 
 this county. He reared two children : JohnT. , 
 the subject of this sketch; and Margaret E., 
 who married lulwin H. Marshall and resides in 
 Troy, N.Y. 
 
 John r. Henham began his education in the 
 district schools, and advanced in learning by 
 attending the .Schoharie Academy. After 
 working at the car])enter's trade some twelve 
 years, he took up the stud)' of medicine with 
 his father, who careful 1_\' directed his prepara- 
 tions, lie also attended lectures at Woodstock 
 and Castleton, Vt., and at the Berkshire Medi- 
 cal College, Pittsfield, Mass. He subse- 
 quently spent a year at the Broadway Hospital, 
 New York C"it)', where he obtained much valu- 
 able experience, and returning to Conesville 
 he entered ujion the practice of his profession 
 in company with his father. For over fifty 
 years he has labored diligcnth' and success- 
 fully in his calling, visiting the sick in all 
 kinds of weather, a])|)arcnt 1)' oblivious of his 
 
 own health or comfort; anil he is still remark- 
 ably vigorous ami active. 
 
 Dr. Bcnham married for his first wife Ro- 
 sanna lloogland and for his second Anna M. 
 Ladcr. He has two daughters b\- his first 
 union, nameh' : Donna 1., who married Oscar 
 Mervin ; and Margaret ]•'.., wife of Julian 
 Myers. 
 
 The Doctor has always been a great reader 
 and an independent thinker, accustomed to rea- 
 son out things, as he says, for himself, even 
 the deep cpiestions of life. His religious o]iin- 
 ions are liberal. Many kiiully acts in the way 
 of charity can be traced directly to him, and 
 he is highly respected by the entire community. 
 
 EDWARD YOUNG, one of Middle- 
 biu'g's literary men and the editor of 
 the Middleburg Garjcl/c, is a natix'e of 
 Prattsville, Greene County. He w'as born on 
 January 6, 1S4S. His elementary education 
 w-as obtained in tlie ]uiblic schools, and subse- 
 quently he attentled Ro.xbury .Seminar)', froni 
 which he was graduated. As editor of the 
 Gazette he exercises a strong influence in 
 moulding public opinion and in placing before 
 the townspeople information which keeps them 
 in touch with the most progressive thought of 
 the day. The editorial columns of his paper 
 are niarked by vigorous and ])ositive expression 
 of opinion on all ([uestions of natinnal or local 
 moment, as well as by cool and conservative 
 criticism and lexel-headed judgment. He docs 
 considerable writing for other publications. 
 I'horoughly interested in the welfare ol the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 39 
 
 town and believing that she needs the services 
 of her best citizens in public life, he has freely 
 given time and effort to serve her in many 
 ways. For two years he was Town Clerk, and 
 for twelve consecutive years, beginning in 
 I1S81, he was village Clerk. In 1889 he rep- 
 resented Schoharie County in the Assembly. 
 He was one of the most ardent workers in se- 
 curing the incorporation of the village, and 
 also of the water company. Of the last named 
 he is now one of the directors. He is a stock- 
 holder in the First National Bank, and since 
 1892 has been treasurer of Middleburg Acad- 
 emy. He is also a member of the Board of 
 Education.. In ])olitics Mr. Young is a most 
 loyal Democrat, and his party has chosen him 
 as delegate to State and county conventions, 
 and as a member of the county committee. 
 
 On November 15, 1893, Mr. V'oung was 
 united in marriage with Inez Bouck, of Cones- 
 ville, a daughter of James A. Bouck. He is 
 a prominent Odd Fellow, and is at the present 
 time District Deputy Grand Patriarch for the 
 Schoharie district. Canton Young, of .Scho- 
 harie, (if which he is a member, is named for 
 him. 
 
 YRUS SHOWERS, civil engineer, 
 I contractor, and buiUler, of Tanners- 
 ville, N. Y. , was born in this town, 
 November 9, 1859, son of Isaac and Merilla 
 A. (Loomis) .Showers. He is of the si.xth 
 generation of his family in America, the line 
 being traced back through Isaac, Japhet, Mi- 
 chael, John, to the emigrant [progenitor, who 
 came from Holland and settled in New Jersey, 
 
 there spending the rest of his life. A more 
 extended account of his ancestors will be found 
 in a sketch of Isaac Showers, which appears 
 elsewhere in the Review. 
 
 Isaac .Showers, Cyrus Showers's father, was 
 born in Hunter in 1827, and spent his youth 
 on farms in this locality. He later engaged in 
 civil engineering, which he followed quite e.\- 
 tensivel)', and became one of the largest resi- 
 dent land-owners in this section. He is now 
 living in retirement. His wife, Merilla, was 
 a daughter of Alvin J. and Harriet (Palmer) 
 Loomis, of Windham. .She became the mother 
 of eight children, four of whom are living; 
 namely, Cyrus, Emma, Henry W. , and George 
 Harding Showers. Emma married Edward 
 Osborn, and resides in California. Henry 
 W. is attending the Albany Law .School. 
 George Harding Showers is studying civil 
 engineering ac the Troy Polytechnic Institute. 
 The others were : Jennie, who married .Stephen 
 Vining, of Windham, and died at the age of 
 forty-one; Elmer, who died at thirteen; Isaac, 
 who died young; and Irving, who died at the 
 age of four years. The parents are members 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 Cyrus Showers was educated in the common 
 schools of Tannersville, and resided on the 
 home farm of three Inmdred acres, of which he 
 took entire charge at the age of eighteen. He 
 kept fifty cows, made butter for the local mar- 
 ket, and supplied Hotel Kaaterskill with milk 
 for .some years. At the age of twenty-five he 
 went to Onteora Park to assist in building the 
 cottages, and was made its superintendent. 
 He later Injilt a large number of houses, com- 
 
4° 
 
 mOGRAPHICAI, RF.VIEW 
 
 ])lctiii.Lj contracts aniouiitinj,' to one hundred 
 thousand dollars in four years. He also built 
 his ])rescnt dweliiuij, and continues to follow 
 the business of a civil engineer, displaying a 
 marked abilit)' for that profession. He at one 
 time engaged in mercantile business for a short 
 period. Politicalh', he is a Re]Hiblican. Aj)- 
 pointed Deput)" .Sheriff in 1.S88, he served 
 until i8gi and again from 1894 to 1898. He 
 was an Assessor two terms and a member of 
 the county committee for several years. lie 
 has been secretar)- of the village Board of 
 Trustees ever since its establishment, and is 
 also a member of the I?oard of Health. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Showers was joined in mar- 
 riage with Lillie E. Ford, who was born in 
 Lexington in 1863, daughter of Charles L. and 
 Harriet (Humphrey) Ford. Her father and 
 grandfather were both natives of Jewett ; and 
 Charles L. l'"ord, who at one time carried on a 
 farm and kept a boarding-house in Lexington, 
 moved to Tannersville, where he was similarly 
 engaged, and still spends liis summers in that 
 village. Mrs. .Showers's mother was a native 
 of Lexington, daughter of the Rev. I';ii li. and 
 Fniily (Cline) Humphrey, the former of whom 
 was a well-known J^aptist minister, and died at 
 the age of eighty. Her grandparents had a 
 family of twehe children, nine of whom aie 
 living, among them Hiram, Horace, .Sabrina, 
 I.ucina, .Su.san, Harriet, Ophelia, luidocia. 
 The otlieis were: Aniasa, Mar\-, anil l''.liza- 
 beth. Charles L. and Harriet Ford are the 
 jiarents of two children: Lillie, who is now 
 Mrs. .Showers; and Jennie ]•;., who nianieil 
 Dr. Robert L. Graham, of lirooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 .Mr. .Showers is an active member of the 
 Methodist Episcojial church, of which he is a 
 steward and trustee, and he served upon the 
 building committee which erected the new- 
 church edifice. Mrs. Showers united with the 
 chiu'ch at the age of fifteen. .She is a mem- 
 ber of the choir, and was organist for eight 
 }'ears. 
 
 ICHTMVER 1IUHH]-;LL, MA)., an 
 able ]jhysician and prominent citizen 
 of Jefferson, N.Y., was born in Gil- 
 boa, Schoharie County, N. Y. , h'ehruary j, 
 1843, son of Jacob Riclitmyer and Harriet 
 (Pierce) Hubbell. The name Hubbell, which 
 originated in Wales, is said to ha\-e been de- 
 rived from Hubba, a Danish chief who camped 
 u]K)n a hill. It passed through several changes, 
 incluiling Hubbashill and HubhiU, iiefore the 
 ]iresent form of spelling was adopted. 
 
 Richard Hubbell, the immigrant ancestor, 
 of whom the Doctor is a descendant in the 
 eighth generation, was born in Wales in 1627. 
 He arrived in New England in 1645, and in 
 I ('147 he took the oath of allegiance to the New 
 Haven Colonial government. In 1664 he 
 moved to Fairfield County, Connecticut, and 
 in 1685 became one of the original jjroprietors 
 of Fairfield townshi[i. He died October 23, 
 1699, and his remains were intened in .Strat- 
 ford hur\ing-groiuKl, now included within tin- 
 limits of the city of Rridgeport. Ricliaid 
 Hubbell was three times married, and was the 
 father of fifteen children. I'"rom him the line 
 of descent is traced directl)-, through Samuel, 
 
RICHTMYER HUBBELL. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 
 
 43 
 
 Nathan, Peter (first), Peter (second), Matthias, 
 and Jacob R., to Dr. Richtmycr Hubbcll, the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 Peter Hubbell, second, the Doctor's great- 
 grandfather, who married Sally Ilurlburt, re- 
 moved with his family from Connecticut to 
 Schoharie County early in the present century. 
 His brother-in-law, Joseph Hurlburt, built the 
 first store in the village of Gilboa, and resided 
 on what is known as the Dr. Fanning farm. 
 
 Matthias Hubbcll, Dr. Hubhell's grand- 
 father, accompanied his parents from Connect- 
 icut when a boy, and during his active years 
 he was Justice of the Peace and followed gen- 
 eral farming in the towns of Gilboa and l^len- 
 heim. He married for his first wife Sophia 
 Richtmyer, who was of German ancestry. 
 The grandparents were buried in the old cem- 
 etery in Gilboa village. 
 
 Jacob I'vichtmyer Hubbell, Dr. Hubbell's 
 father, was a lifelong resident of this county. 
 He died in Sharon Springs, N.Y. , November 
 II, 1896, aged just seventy-six years, and was 
 buried in Jefferson. His wife, Harriet, was a 
 daughter of Benona and Betsey (Davis) Pierce, 
 of North Blenheim. Her father was a de- 
 scendant of Captain Michael Pierce, who came 
 over from England about 1645, settled at Scit- 
 uate, Mass., in 1647, and was killeil in a fight 
 with Indians in King Philip's War in March, 
 1676, while commanding his company. This 
 is the line of ancestr)' : Captain Michael,' 
 Ephraim,- Ephraim,^ Mial,^ Job,' Job,'' and 
 Benona,' father of Mrs. Hubbell. Benona 
 Pierce was born in 17S1, a son of Job Pierce, 
 Jr., of Rehoboth, Mass., and died in 1S55. 
 
 His wife, Mrs. Betsey D. Pierce, born in 
 May, 1789, died in September, 1S81. 
 
 Jacob R. and Harriet (Pierce) Hubbell were 
 the jiarents of six children, namely : Richt- 
 myer, the subject of this sketch; Charles B., 
 a furniture dealer and undertaker in Jefferson; 
 Hiram P., a physician of Stamford, Delaware 
 County; Elizabeth, wife of J. Perry Champlin, 
 of Ruth, Schoharie County ; Sophia, who mar- 
 ried J. E. Preston, of Sharon Springs; and 
 P'red E. Hubbell, who died September 23, 
 1892, aged about thirty years. 
 
 Richtmyer Hubbell acquired his early edu- 
 cation in the district schools and at the acad- 
 emy in Roxbur)', Delaware County, which he 
 attended one term. At the age of sixteen he 
 Ijegan teaching during the winter season, his 
 summers being devoted to agriculture; and, 
 having taught schools in Gilboa, ]?lenheim, 
 and Eminence, he in 1S63 began the study of 
 medicine under the direction of the late Dr. 
 A. A. Wood. In the fall of that year he ac- 
 companied his precejjtor to Wisconsin, where 
 he resumed teaching for a time at Almond, 
 Wis., and also continued his studies with Dr. 
 Wood and Dr. Guernse)', of Almond, Wis. In 
 1864 he enlisted as a Corporal in Comjjany M, 
 First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, of which he 
 was shortly afterward appointed clerk, and he 
 served until the close of the Civil War. Re- 
 turning to Schoharie County after his dis- 
 charge, he subsequently entered the Philadel- 
 phia University of Medicine and Surgery, 
 from which he was graduated P'ebruary 21, 
 1866. Borrowing the money to purchase a 
 team and medical OLitfit, he began the 
 
44 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIKW 
 
 practice of his profession in Harpcrsfield, 
 Delaware County, N. Y. I'or tiic succeeding 
 eleven years his practice, which covered a 
 wide circuit, extending into two adjoining 
 counties, kept him constantly driving from 
 place to place through all kinds of weather. 
 While residing in riar]Tersfield he serxed four 
 terms as Town Clerk and three terms as Su- 
 pervisor. On December 25, 1876, Dr. Hub- 
 bell sold his practice, together with his real 
 estate in Harpcrsfield, to his brother, Hiram 
 P., and removetl to Jefferson, where he almost 
 immediately accpiired [jromincnce as a skilful 
 jiiiNsician and surgeon. Although his practice 
 is large and his time exceedingly valuable, he 
 has never been known to neglect the worthy 
 jioor, believing, as he does, that life and 
 health are as dear to them as to those who are 
 more fortunate ; and, as he himself declares, if 
 tiiey are unable to pay him in dollars and 
 cents, the\- ha\e more than liquidated his 
 claim ui)on them by their genuine gratitutle. 
 He has frequently held the offices of presi- 
 tient and secretary of the Eclectic Medical So- 
 ciet)' of the Susquehannah District, comprising 
 the counties of Schoharie, Delaware, and Ot- 
 sego, and (hiring his professional career he has 
 directed tiie preparatory studies of five stu- 
 dents, four of them becoming skilful medical 
 ])ract it loners and one a successful druggist. 
 Two of the five are now deceased. In 1880 he 
 established the Jefferson Hanking House, which 
 he carried on for two years; and, when the 
 present bank at Stamford, N. Y. , was founded, 
 he was requested to become its president, but 
 his professiouLil duties jireviMited iiim from ac- 
 
 cepting the office. His hearty co-operation is 
 ahvays to be depended upon in forwarding all 
 measures calculated to be of benefit to the 
 town. He was acti\-e in securing the ]iresent 
 water-works s\stem, together with a public 
 foimtain, the Jefferson Co-operative Creamery, 
 and so forth; and he is using his influence for 
 the establishment of a union free school, with 
 academic advantages. He is actively en- 
 gaged in general farming, raises Jersey cattle, 
 and owns about two thousand acres of agri- 
 cultural property. 
 
 On April 29, 1866, Dr. Hubbell married 
 for his first wife Amelia S. Decker, of Gilboa, 
 daughter of Jacob Decker and a sister of 
 William H. Decker, Supervisor of that town. 
 She died January ig, 1889, leaving four ciiil- 
 dren — P'rank J., Hattie A., Benona R., and 
 Grace Greenwood. P'rank J. is a iirosjierous 
 farmer of Jefferson, and Hattie A. is the wife 
 of Charles 1{. Nichols, an attorney of this 
 town. The other children reside at home. 
 On August 27, 1890, the Doctor married for 
 his second wife Miss Rose E. Decker, his first 
 wife's sister. Of this union there is one son, 
 P'red D. , born July 3, 1893. 
 
 I'olitically, Dr. Hubbell is a Republican, a 
 protectionist, and a firm believer in gold as a 
 monetary standard. He belongs to the Meth- 
 odist I^piscopal church, and has been a mem- 
 ber since he was sixteen \ears old. 
 
 4^»^» 
 
 / 3) p:ORt;E LAS11P:R, a prosperous 
 \M_I_ farmer of Duanesburg, N. Y., and an 
 ex-member (jf the .State Assembly, was born in 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 45 
 
 this town, September 20, 1834, son nf James 
 M. and Marion (Kennedy) Lasher. The 
 father's birth took place July 4, 181 i, in a 
 log house on the Lasher farm. This farm was 
 cleared from the wilderness by the paternal 
 grandfather, George Lasher, who was a native 
 of Dutchess Count}', and came here in the year 
 1800. A sturdy, persevering man, he suc- 
 ceeded in overcoming the many difficulties of 
 a pioneer's life; and he resided here until his 
 death, which occurred August 15, 1846. He 
 married Helen McMillan, a native of Glasgow, 
 Scotland. In politics he voted with the 'Whig 
 party. He was an active member of the Dutch 
 Reformed church. 
 
 James M. Lasher, the father, succeeded to 
 the ownership of the farm, which he still holds ; 
 and for many years he cultivated it energeti- 
 ally. Moving to Mariaville in 1862, he was 
 engaged in mercantile business and the manu- 
 facture of lumber here in company with his 
 son George until his retirement in 1880, since 
 which time the store and saw-mill have been 
 leased. Politically, he acts with the Republi- 
 can party. For many years he has been an 
 Elder of the Presbyterian church. Marion, his 
 wife, who was born in Milton, Saratoga 
 County, July 5, 1812, died on July 20, 1888. 
 She was the mother of five children, namely: 
 Anna A., who married the Rev. James 'VV. 
 Johnston, and died in North Carolina in 1886; 
 Mary Helen; George, the subject of this 
 sketch; John Kennedy, of Yonkers ; and Will- 
 iam M. Lasher, of New York City. 
 
 George Lasher began his education in the 
 common schools, and completed his studies 
 
 with a commercial course at Eastman's Busi- 
 ness College, Poughkecpsie. At the age of 
 twenty-one he became associated in business 
 with his father, under the firm name of Lasher 
 & Son, and since the retirement of the elder 
 Lasher he has had full charge of the ]n'operty, 
 including the management of the farm, which 
 contains two hundred acres. Mr. Georse 
 Lasher is unmarried. 
 
 Since becoming a voter he has manifested a 
 keen interest in local public affairs, and his 
 ability displayed in various official caixicities 
 has proved beneficial to the community. He 
 served as Justice of the Peace for several years, 
 was .Supervisor three years, and was a member 
 of the Assemlaly in 1881. He is particularly 
 interested in educational matters. In politics 
 he is a Republican. He and his father occupy 
 a handsome residence located upon the shores 
 of a beautiful lake. They are highly respected 
 members of the community. Mr. Lasher is an 
 Polder of the Presbyterian church. 
 
 ^ClLHERT OSPORN BRUCE, M.D., a 
 
 J well-known practising physician of 
 
 the town of Seward, N. Y. , has been located in 
 the village of Hyndsville for nearly twoscore 
 years, and with one exception is the oldest- 
 established practitioner in Schoharie County. 
 He was born in the neighboring town of Sum- 
 mit, December 6, 1839, a son of the Rev. 
 Samuel and Theodosia (Harrington) Bruce. 
 
 Samuel Bruce, Sr., father of the Rev. Sam- 
 uel, was born and reared in Scotland, and he 
 
46 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 lived there until alter his marriage. Cnmiiii;- 
 then to America with his bride, formerly a 
 Miss Armstrong, he became a ])ioneer settler 
 of Oneida County, New York, where he took 
 up a tract of wild land, cleared a s])ace, and 
 erected the Io.l;" house in which he made his 
 home during his remaining days. VVitli untir- 
 ing energy and true heroism he labored to re- 
 claim a farm from the primeval forest, and his 
 efforts were well rewarded. He passed to the 
 life beyond at the age of sixty-five years ; but 
 his wife survived him many years, attaining 
 the age of ninety-five. 
 
 The Rev. -Samuel Bruce was one of a family 
 of three ihildren. He was brouglit up at the 
 old homestead, and received his early education 
 in the pioneer schools of his district. Pos- 
 sessing great mental ability, he continued to 
 add to his store of knowledge by judicious 
 reading and studying, and for several years was 
 employed as a teacher. He afterward settled 
 on a farm in Summit, where he carried on 
 general farming for some time. He also 
 preached at Schoharie and elsewhere in this 
 county. He was ordained as a minister of the 
 Lutheran church, and subsequently followed 
 his vocation in Otsego County, settling at 
 South Worcester, where he died at the age of 
 seventy-two years. His wife, whose maiden 
 name was Theodosia Harrington, was a daugh- 
 ter of William Harrington. Shesurvi\'ed him, 
 passing away at the venerable age of fourscore 
 and ten years. Of their eight children seven 
 are now living, namely: Samuel W. ; James; 
 Elbert O. ; Richard; P'-li, who occupies the 
 old homestead ; Lavinia, wife of Oliver Mow- 
 
 bran}-; and Martha, wife of -Sylvester Smith, 
 of Onet)nta. Lucy Jane is deceased. 
 
 Elbert O. Ikuce left home wlien a lad of ten 
 years to become a pujjil in the New \'ork Con- 
 ference Seminary, which he attended until it 
 was burned, four years later. He subsecjuently 
 read medicine with Dr. George H. Leonard, 
 and in 1859 was graduated from the Castlelon 
 Medical College at Castleton, \'t. Returning 
 then to East Worcester, Otsego County, Hr. 
 Hruce assisted his former instructor, Dr. I^eon- 
 ard, a few months, and then came to Hynds- 
 ville, where he has since remained, a trusted 
 physician and an esteemeil citizen. During 
 this time he has seen Hyndsville de\eloped 
 from a small hamlet of three or four houses to 
 a flourishing village, and in its advancement 
 and welfare lie has been an imjjortant factor. 
 He has built u]) an extensive practice, his ride 
 extending twenty miles in either direction from 
 the village; and from his first day of ])ractice 
 until the present date he has ke])t abreast with 
 the times in regard to the progress made in the 
 science of medicine. Through the leading 
 medical journals he kee[)s informed of the new 
 diseases anil their treatments, and of the newer 
 methods emjiloyed in curing oUI-time diseases 
 of all kinds. 
 
 Dr. Bruce is a charter member of the -Scho- 
 harie County Medical .Society, of which he 
 has been |)i-esident three years and secretary 
 five year.s, also having held all tlie other offices. 
 Beforet his body of his professional brethren 
 the Doctor is frequently called upon to read 
 jxipers ; and he has likewise contributed arti- 
 cles on different topics, including diphtheria 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 47 
 
 and typhoid fever, to the Medical World. He 
 is also a member of the New York State Med- 
 ical Society, and has been a delegate three years. 
 In politics he is a sound Democrat. He has 
 served as Town Clerk six years; was Super- 
 visor in 1869 and 1S70; has been a member of 
 the School Committee several years; and from 
 1885 until 1889, under President Cleveland's 
 administration, he served as Postmaster. Dur- 
 ing that time he was nominated as candidate 
 for member of Assembly, but being Postmaster 
 he was obliged to withdraw his name. He is 
 a prominent Mason, belonging to Cobleskill 
 Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 394, and to Cobleskill 
 Chapter, R. A. M. , No. 229. He is a member 
 of the Methodist church, of which he is a trus- 
 tee, and for many years has been connected 
 with its Sunday-school. 
 
 Dr. Bruce was married Jutie 21, 1857, to 
 Miss Cynthia Brown, the only child of Perley 
 Brown, who was for many years a prominent 
 man and the leading merchant of Summit. 
 Dr. and Mrs. Brown have an adopted son, 
 ]3crtie, now a pupil in the Cobleskill High 
 School. 
 
 ^ 
 
 |OBERT SELDEN, M.D., a leading 
 physician of Catskill, N.Y., residing 
 at 271 Main .Street, was born in 
 Shanesville, Ohio, on August 21, 1847, his 
 parents being Dr. Orrin G. and Catherine 
 (Hall) Selden. His grandfather, Robert Sel- 
 dcn, was a Scotchman, by occupation a miller. 
 He came to this country when his son Orrin was 
 seven years of age, and, settling in Massachu- 
 setts, worked at fanning there during the re- 
 
 mainder of his life. The maiden name of his 
 wife was Balfour. 
 
 Orrin Selden was brought up on a farm, and 
 followed agricultural pursuits until he became 
 of age. His education was received in the 
 common schools and in the academy at Haver- 
 hill. While still a young man he went to 
 Ohio, where he taught school for some time. 
 He subsequently studied medicine, and prac- 
 tised in Ohio and Wisconsin. He settled in 
 Catskill in 1877, and here he resided until his 
 death in 1894, one of the leading practitioners 
 of this vicinity. His wife, Catherine, was 
 born in Winsted, Conn. She was the daugh- 
 ter of Reuben Hall, a shoemaker by trade, who 
 espoused the cause of the black man and early 
 allied himself with the anti-slavery party. He 
 went South, and started a school and Sunday- 
 school for negroes at Fayetteville, but was 
 burned out, losing all his property. Pic then 
 removed to Pennsylvania and later to Ohio, 
 where he died at the age of eighty. Orrin 
 G. Selden and his wife were the parents of 
 three children, of whom there are living Rob- 
 ert and Mary. Mrs. Selden died at the age of 
 fifty-two. She was brought up a Methodist, 
 but after her marriage she joined the Presbyte- 
 rian church, of which her husband was a mem- 
 ber. 
 
 Robert Selden spent his early life in Ohio. 
 He read medicine with his father, and then 
 took a course at the Charity Hospital Medical 
 College, of Cleveland, from which he was grad- 
 uated in 1870. He began practice at Shanes- 
 ville with his father, and continued there after 
 the latter removed to Wisconsin. Subse- 
 
-|8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 (|uently tlic f;ithcr and s(in were associated in 
 practice here until tiic death of the father. 
 Dr. Robert Seldcn has been here since 1882. 
 He lias a very large jjractice and one that is 
 constantly increasing. His patients are to be 
 found not only in the village, but in all the 
 outlying districts. 
 
 Dr. Selden was married in iScSo to Charlotte 
 K. (lardiner, ilaughter of William H. (iardiner. 
 She was born in W'hitesboro, N. Y. , where her 
 father was a physician. Dater he went to 
 Ohio. While there he received an api)oint- 
 ment as iiost surgeon for the ami)- at Nash- 
 ville, and while engaged in the discharge of 
 the duties of that position he was attacked 
 with cholera, which jjroved fatal. His wife, 
 Emily Hull, bore him si.x children, of whom 
 the living are : Mrs. Buss, of Cleveland; Mrs. 
 Selden; and Emily II. Dr. and Mrs. Selden 
 have two daughters — Catherine !•-. and Fan- 
 nie, both of whom are attending school. 
 
 The Doctor is a member of the New \'iirk 
 Medical Association, and has been its vice- 
 president ; also a member of the Greene County 
 Medical Society, of which he has been presi- 
 dent. He has read numerous \-aluable papers 
 on medical subjects before both organizations. 
 He has been a Mason since 1S70. He holds 
 membership in Catskill Lodge, No. 468, F. & 
 A. M., of which he is a trustee and a Past 
 Master; in Catskill Royal Arch Chapter, No. 
 285, of wliich he is a charter member and 
 present High Priest; in Lafayette Comman- 
 dery, K. T., of Hudson, of which he is 
 Past Commander; in Mvstic .Shrine, Cyjiress 
 Temple, of Albany; in the Fraternal Union of 
 
 Anointed High Priests, which includes the high- 
 est officers from the various Royal Arch Chap- 
 ters of the .State; and in the Association of 
 Tem])lar Knights Commanders. He is medi- 
 cal examiner for a number of the largest insur- 
 ance companies and for the A. 0. U. W., of 
 which he is a member and has been for several 
 )ears financier. In politics the Doctor is a 
 Democrat. He was Town .Suiiervisor for one 
 year. His ]ibrar\-, of which he is justly 
 proud, is the largest and finest private library 
 in the county. Dr. and Mrs. Selden are mem- 
 bers of St. Luke Episcopal Church, and he has 
 been for a number of years a vestryman. 
 
 's^OHN A. NEWELL, of the well-known 
 mercantile firm of Potter & Newell, 
 Main Street, Windham, Greene County, 
 N.\'., was born in Durham, N.Y.. on Sep- 
 tember 21, 1829, son of Andrus and Julia 
 (Hushnell) Newell. His paternal grandfather, 
 John Newell, was a native of Southington, 
 Conn., and came to Durham among the early 
 pioneers of that town. 
 
 Caiitain John Newell, as he was widely 
 known from his rank in the .State militia in 
 the earlv trainiuL;" daws, built first a lo;/ cabin 
 and then a frame house, which he kept as a 
 tavern for many years. He was of sturdy 
 stock that could endure hardshi])s without 
 flinching, and his common sense equalled his 
 stalwait frame. He was a militia man in the 
 War of 1812. He lived to be over seventy 
 years of age, and his wife also lived to be old. 
 They reared a family of eight children. 
 
JOHN A. NEWKLL. 
 
J 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Andnis Newell, who was born in IJurham, 
 became a jirosperous farmer on his one hundred 
 and sixty acres. He tore down the building 
 tiiat his father had used as a tavern, and 
 erected in its place the large and handsome 
 house which is now the home of his son 
 Charles. Like his father he was a man of 
 sound judgment and of sjilendid physical 
 strength, being hearty and hale up tt) the time 
 of his death, at the age of eighty-six. He was 
 originally a Whig in politics and later a Re- 
 publican, and he held numerous offices tluring 
 his long and active life. His wife, Julia, died 
 at the age of fifty years. She was a native of 
 Westbrook, Conn. Both were de\'0ted mem- 
 bers of the Congregational church. Of their 
 ten children Louisa died at the age of twenty- 
 seven, Zina died at the age of seventy-one, and 
 Edwin at the age of five years. The living 
 are: John A., Sylvia, Abby, Adelbert, Eliza- 
 beth, Charles, and Eliezur D. Sylvia is the 
 wife of the Rev. S. H. Fellows, of VVauregan, 
 Conn. Abby is the wife of Professor Gilbert, 
 teacher of mathematics in the high school 
 at Albany, N. Y. Adelbert is a prosperous 
 farmer of Cox.sackie, N. Y. Elizabeth is Mrs. 
 Borland A. Peck. Charles is a farmer on 
 the old homestead, and Eliezur resides with 
 him. 
 
 John Newell lived with his parents until he 
 was about sixteen and a half years of age, when 
 he came to Windham. He had received a 
 common-school education, and upon coming 
 here he began learning the cabinet-maker's 
 trade with Mr. Potter, his present partner. 
 At the age of twenty-one, having finished his 
 
 apprenticeship, he went to New Vork City, 
 where he worked for two years. During this 
 time he saved a small amount of money, and at 
 the close of his second year he received an 
 offer from Mr. Potter to return to Windham 
 and enter into partnership with him. This 
 offer he accepted, and in 1(852 was formed the 
 partnership that is now the oldest in existence 
 in this county. Since that time Messrs. Pot- 
 ter & Newell have built up a very large trade 
 in Windham and the surrounding region. 
 Both gentlemen are skilled workmen in every 
 branch of furniture manufacturing, having 
 made all kinds of furniture by hand. They 
 have in past years done considerable manufact- 
 uring on their own premises, and still continue 
 to manufacture cofifins and caskets. Their 
 trade in furniture is extensive, and as they are 
 the only undertakers within a radius of ten 
 miles they practically do all the business in 
 that line hereabouts. No firm is better known 
 in all the surrounding country than that of 
 Potter & Newell. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Newell married luniice Hunt, 
 who was born in the house in which Mr. New- 
 ell now resides. Her parents were Daniel 
 and Mary (Rowley) Hunt, both of whom were 
 members of the Presbyterian church. Of their 
 family of four boys and five girls three are 
 living and reside in Windham. Mr. Hunt 
 was a leading man in the town and |)rominent 
 in all i)ublic affairs. I^y occupation he was a 
 miller, and he built the mill now standing 
 here and the mill-race. Mrs. Hunt, who was 
 horn in Lexington, died at the age of sixty- 
 three. Mrs. Newell dietl on October 10, 
 
52 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1898, dropping suddenly from heart disease, at 
 the age of sixty-seven. Mr. Newell has lost 
 his two children — Highland and Mary E. 
 Ilighlaml Newell, who was a youni; man of 
 unusual promise, died at the ai;e of twenty- 
 three. He was a member of the Hampden 
 Watch Company, of Springfield, Mass., having 
 learned the watchmaker's trade in his native 
 jilace. He had been in business three years 
 when cut down by a fatal illness. Mary E. 
 died at five years of age. 
 
 I'dliticallv, Mr. Newell is a Republican. 
 He has served his townspeojile in the office of 
 Collector of Ta.xcs and as Auditor of the town 
 accounts, and has been a candidate for Siiper- 
 \'isor. He is a mendier of Momitain Lodge of 
 Masons, No. 529, having joined shortly after 
 the lodge was organized. His interest in 
 Masonic affairs has been active and unremit- 
 ting, and he has held nearly every office in the 
 lodge. He was Master at the lime the Ma- 
 sonic Teni|)le in New \'ork was dedicateil. 
 l''or nearly fifty years Mr. Newell has been an 
 active worker in the Presbyterian church in 
 this |)lace, and for the last thirty years has 
 been the leading tenor in the church choir, 
 which is the best in an\- town in the county 
 outside of Catskill. lie comes of a musicgl 
 famih', all of them being singers. l'"or more 
 than a (piarter of a century he has been an 
 b-lder in the chiu'ch, and for nine years he 
 served the Sunday-school as its superintend- 
 ent. He can scarcely remember the time 
 when he was not connected with the .Sunday- 
 school, either as pu|)il, teacher, or suiierin- 
 tendent. 
 
 OHN D. CAM THE LL, who owns and 
 occu])ies the old Camjjbell homestead in 
 Kiitterdam, N.V., was born in Alban\- 
 this State, Mav 14, 1S44, son of Daniel 1). 
 anil Julia A. (Sitterly) Campbell. Mr. Camp- 
 bell's father, who was adopted by an aimt, was 
 a son of Jacob and Angelica (Bradt) .Schermer- 
 horn. Jacob was a son of Simon and Sarah 
 (\'rooman) Schermerhorn. .Simon was a son of 
 Jacob and Margaret (Teller) Schermerhorn. 
 Jacob was a son of R_\'er and Aiiantje (Bradt) 
 Schermerhorn; and Ryer wis a son of Jacob 
 Janse Schermerhorn, the emigrant ancestor, 
 who was born in Waterland, Holland, in 1622, 
 and who marrietl Jamiettie Segers \'an \'oor- 
 houdt. 
 
 John D. Campbell was reared in Albany, 
 and acquired his etlucation in the schools of 
 that city. Since early manhood he has been 
 extensively engaged in agiicultural puisuits, 
 and is now the owner ot the Cam])l)ell home- 
 stead of three hundred acres and tlie X'edder 
 farm. His place, with its Colonial brick 
 mansion, is one of the most pretentious and 
 attractive country seats in this section, the 
 spacious grounds being shaded by graiul cdil 
 trees, thus adding to the condcirt as well as the 
 beauty of the surroundings. 
 
 On August 23, 1871, Mr. Campbell was 
 joined in marriage with l^lizabeth Clute, who 
 was born in Schenectaily, N.\'., October 30, 
 1848. She is now the mother of four children, 
 namel)- : l)a\ id, born December 3, 1873; 
 Julia A., born June 22, 1S76; John D., Jr., 
 born March 25, 1878; and Bessie B. , born Au- 
 gust 7, 18S0. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 S3 
 
 Mr. Campbell is one of the most noted agri- 
 eulturists of Rotterdam, anil he makes a spe- 
 cialty of raising thoroughbred cattle and 
 horses. Politically, he is a Democrat, and 
 was a member of the Assembly in 1882. 
 
 C^TX^DREW G. BALDWIN, proprietor of 
 one of the best dairy farms in Gilboa, 
 N.Y., was born in Greenville, 
 Greene County, this State, December 11, 1827, 
 son of Harvey and Eliza (Boyd) Baldwin. His 
 father was born in Woodbury, Conn., Septem- 
 ber 7, 1799, and his mother was born in 
 Greenville, March 17, 1800. His paternal 
 grandfather, Andrew Baldwin, who was a 
 native of Connecticut, and lived there a num- 
 ber of years after marrying, removed with his 
 family to Greenville, and later from there to 
 Mount Morris, N. Y. , where he died. He was 
 an industrious farmer. He had six children, 
 namely: Deborah, who never married; Nancy, 
 who was the wife of Judge Reuben Hine, of 
 New York City; Harvey ; Andrew, who died 
 while young; Hannah, who married James 
 Conkey, of Mount Morris; and Harriet, who 
 married William Barnes, of Monmouth, III. 
 
 Harvey Baldwin, father of Andrew G., was 
 fourteen years old when his parents settled in 
 Greenville. He remained there until 1S37, 
 when he removed to a farm in Conesville, 
 Schoharie County, where his death occurred on 
 December 14, 1849. He was the father of 
 five children, two of whom are living, namely : 
 Andrew G., the subject of this sketch; and 
 
 William L. Baldwin, a lawyer of ]5reakabeen 
 and e.\-district attorney. The others were: 
 Ann Jane, wife of the late Dr. E. R. Mackey, 
 of Cat.skill, N.Y. ; John H., M.D., who died 
 in Olive City, Ulster County, N.Y., in 1889; 
 and James Harvey, who died at the age of ten 
 years. The mother died September 7, 1857. 
 
 Andrew G. Baldwin acquired his education 
 in the schools of Greenville and Cones\'ille. 
 He aided in carrying on the home farm until 
 his father's death, and continued to reside in 
 Conesville for five or si.\ years afterward. 
 Coming to (lilboa in 1855, he was engaged in 
 mercantile pursuits until 1861, when he pur- 
 chased a farm, on which he lived about three 
 years. Eor the past thirty-four years he has 
 occupied a residence in the village, but still 
 manages his agricultural property, which con- 
 sists of two farms, one containing one hundred 
 and ninety-seven acres and the other one hun- 
 dred and twenty-three acres. With the aid of 
 hired assistants he carries on general farming 
 and dairying. He has dealt somewhat exten- 
 sively in cattle, and at one time handled Ca- 
 nadian horses. 
 
 Eor more than thirty years Mr. Baldwin has 
 served as a Justice of the Peace, and in that 
 capacity he transacts most of the minor legal 
 business in this vicinity. During his four 
 years upon the Board of Supervisors he was 
 chairman of the legislation and printing com- 
 mittees, and was a member of the committee 
 on accounts of County Treasurer. He has 
 also held other offices. He was always 
 strongly opposed to slavery. His first Presi- 
 dential vote was cast for the Whig candidate in 
 
54 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1852. His allegiance to the Reiniblican party 
 dates from its foimatimi, when he assisted in 
 perfecting the local organization. He has 
 served upon various committees, and has 
 missed but one town election since liecoming 
 a voter. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin married Charlotte V.. Stryker, 
 daughter of Peter B. .Str)ker, who came with 
 his paients fiom New Jersex- in I7<S5, the 
 Stryker family being the very first to settle 
 in this section. Mr.s. Baldwin's grandfather 
 came from Holland. Her father was quite 
 active in public affairs, and prominently 
 iilentified with the Dutch Reformed church. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin have had five children, 
 namely: Carrie E. , who marrietl William lla- 
 garton, M.D. , for twenty-four years a well- 
 known ]ihysician of Gilboa; Minnie K., who 
 married Henry Carpenter, and is no longer 
 living; George S., i\I.D., who is now ]iractis- 
 ing in New York City; Lewis C, a dentist, 
 who als(j practises in the metropolis; and 
 Grace A., who is studying music. 
 
 Mr. Baldwin joined the Dutch Reformed 
 chuicli in 1S65, and during his period of mem- 
 bership lias served as Llder, Deacon, treasurer, 
 and superintendent of the Sunda\-school. 
 
 < • > > > 
 
 'OilN II. (;i\.\\', pro]5rietor of a general 
 store in 'lannersville, Greene Coimtv, 
 N.V. , was born in Olive, Tlster 
 County, this .State, January 13, 1853, son of 
 Morgan ami Rachel ({■"reileigh) Gray. His 
 grandfather, Martin Gray, was a lifelong resi- 
 
 dent of Columbia County and a prosjjcrous 
 farmer. 
 
 Morgan Gray, father of John II., was born 
 in Saratoga, and he there followed farming 
 some years. He later came to Greene County, 
 and remained a short time, then went to Olive 
 in Ulster County, and iu 1 868 settled u])on a 
 farm in Saugerties, where he is still residing. 
 He is now seventy-five years old, but |)ossesses 
 the activity of a much younger man. He is 
 a member of the Dtitch Reformed church. 
 His wife, Rachel, was born in Saugerties, 
 daughter of Samuel Freileigh, a prosperous 
 farmer of that locality. .She died at the age 
 of fifty-si.\, having been the mother of seven 
 children, of whom si.\ are living; namely, 
 Samuel M., John H., Carrie, Mary, Abbie, 
 and Charles. Carrie married Daniel York, 
 Mary married Orville Smith, and Abbie is the 
 wife of Frank .Smith. 
 
 John II. Gray was educated in the common 
 schools. He assisted his father on the farm 
 until he was thirty-one years old, when he pur- 
 chasetl the general store conducted up to that 
 time by his brother Samuel !\L, and, adding 
 other goods, carried on the business for four 
 years. .Selling out to his brother-in-law, he 
 came in i8go to Tannersville, and |Hirchasing 
 land in the centre of the town, on the west side 
 of Hunter Turnpike, erected his present store, 
 in which he has carried on a profitable business 
 ever since. The store is si.xty by one Inuulred 
 feet, and two stories high, the upper floor 
 being used for storage purposes. He carries 
 a large and varied stock, including drv and 
 fancy goods, boots and shoes, ha}' and grain. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 55 
 
 paints and oils, groceries, hardware, house- 
 furnishing goods, carpets, crockery, harnesses, 
 robes, all kinds of patent medicines, wines, 
 liquors, cigars, and tobaccn. He also has a 
 niillinerv department. Reopens in April and 
 closes Januar)- i. With the aid of twenty-one 
 employees, he transacts a large business, sup- 
 plying all of the hotels and park resorts in this 
 locality. He buys by the carload, and the 
 character of his trade demands the handling 
 of the finest qualit}' of foreign and domestic 
 goods. In connection with his store he carries 
 on a well-equipped li\'er\' stable, keeping an 
 average of thirty horses. 
 
 In 1882 Mr. Gray married Jennie Carnright, 
 a native of Ouarr}ville, Ulster County, daugh- 
 ter of Wynkoop and Abbie (Freileigh) Carn- 
 right. Her father was born in West Hadlcy, 
 Ulster County. He moved from there to 
 Ouarryville and later to Malden-on-the-Hud- 
 son, where he has resided for the past twenty- 
 five years and is general overseer on the stone 
 cJDck. Her mother also was born in Ouarry- 
 ville. .She was a daughter of .Samuel P. Frei- 
 leigh, a farmer of that town, who was of Dutch 
 descent. Mrs. Carnright, who is no longer liv- 
 ing, was the mother of two children : Jennie, 
 who is now Mrs. Gray ; and Carrie, who married 
 James Hommul. Having a good common- 
 school education antl [lossessing excellent busi- 
 ness ability, Mrs. Gray is a valuable assistant 
 to her husband, and has a general supervision 
 of the store. She attends to most of the buy- 
 ing, and gives her particular attention to the 
 niilliner)- department, which is well stocked 
 with seasonable goods. Mr. and Mrs. Gray 
 
 have one daughter, Maud S. , aged fourteen. 
 She is attending the academy in Kingston, and 
 makes a siiecialty of music. 
 
 Mr. Gray is a Democrat in pf)litics. He is 
 a great lover of horses, and keeps a number of 
 speedy animals, and Mrs. Gray is als(j fond of 
 driving. 
 
 RCHir.ALD TINNING, one of the 
 leading farmers of I'rincetown, N.Y., 
 was born in Glen, Montgomery 
 County, this State, August 6, 1824, son of 
 James and Hannah (Bradt) Tinning. The 
 father was born in Scotland in 1785, and in 
 early life he followed the useful calling of a 
 school teacher. He later kept a store on the 
 Iirie Canal, and in 1840 he settled in I'atter- 
 sonville, where he ran a general store in con- 
 nection with farming for eleven years. He 
 then moved to Florida, N.Y. , where he spent 
 the rest of his life, and died in 1868. 
 I'oliticall)', he acted in his later years with 
 the Republican part)-, and in his religious 
 belief he was a Presbyterian. Mrs. Hannah 
 Bradt Tinning, his wife, who was born 
 in Glen in 1795, and died in 1838, was the 
 mother of six children, three of whom are 
 living, namely: Archibald, the subject of 
 this sketch; Susan, who is now Mrs. Dougal, 
 of Glenville; and Jane, who resides in Monte- 
 rey, Cal. The others were: Catharine, who 
 became Mrs. Dorman ; Margaret, who became 
 Mrs. I5rownell; and Joseph Tinning. The 
 mother died in I 838. 
 
 Archibald Tinning was reared and educated 
 
56 
 
 BIOGRAPH ICAL REVIEW 
 
 in Mi)ntg()mcrv County. He beg:in life as a 
 clfik in his fatlicr's stoic, and later engaged 
 in mercantile business on liis dwn account. 
 He became a property holder in Sclienectad\' 
 Count)- in 1840, purchased his present farm in 
 I'rincetown in 1849, and has resided here since 
 I.S50. He now owns ahnut three hundred 
 acres, which he nses for general farming and 
 pasturage. He raises large and superior crops, 
 and realizes good financial results. He keeps 
 from twenty to thirt)' head of fine cattle, also 
 raises shee|), and his stable contains some ex- 
 cellent horses. 
 
 In iS4cS Mr. Tinning married Sarah Mc- 
 Gec, who was born in New York City, ilaugh- 
 ter of William and Maria (W'east) McGee, 
 who came to reside in I'rincetown several 
 years ])riiir to licr nuirriage. .She is the 
 mother of five children ; namel)', James, Will- 
 iam, l-'rances, Maria, anil Martha. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Tinning have eight grandchildren. 
 
 Having acquired a comijctenc}', Mr. Tin- 
 ning has practically retired from active labor, 
 and will heiicefiirward eiijo)' a well-earned rest 
 at his comfortable hiimc. In politics he acts 
 with the Republican jjarty. He and Mrs. 
 Tinning are members of the Dutch Reformed 
 clnnch. 
 
 Of late years Mr. Tinning has found the 
 winters too severe, and he and Mrs. Tinning 
 have made several journeys to Califnrnia to 
 enjoy that delightful climate, and visit friends 
 and relatives, making his headquarters with his 
 son William, who is a successful lawyer. He 
 has visited the \'osemite and other natiual 
 wonders of the .State, al.so taking great interest 
 
 in the sugar beet factories and other great in- 
 dustries and im])rovements that are being car- 
 ried on. 
 
 RANK X. STRATH, the founder and 
 s manager of the telegraph line ;ind bus- 
 iness in Middleburg, N.Y. , is of German birth 
 and parentage. He was born in Altheim 
 Oberamt Horb, W'urtemberg, on June 1, 1847, 
 son of Michael and Wallpurga Noll (\'on lliirr- 
 linger) Straub. His father, who was born in 
 W'urtemberg, of an ancient and honored famil)', 
 came to this country in 1851. 
 
 In the Fatherland Michael Stranb had been 
 a farmer and the nwner of a large \ineyard, 
 where he manufactureil wine on ijuitean exten- 
 sive scale. He was a man of nute in his na- 
 tive ])lace, and esteemed by all whd knew him. 
 After coming here, he settled in Williamsbui'g, 
 on tlie outskirts of Brooklyn, where he ke|)t a 
 
 hotel until 186; 
 
 His wife, who was one of 
 
 twins, was born in 1816, and died un June 28, 
 1852, not long after her arrixal in America. 
 Both parents were members of the Geinian 
 Catholic church. Of their fi\e children one, 
 Rosa, is deceasetl. Those living are: John; 
 Carl A., who has been for thirty-two years in 
 the regular army; Marie S. ; antl I-'rank X., of 
 Middleburg, whose personal histor)- is given 
 below. 
 
 Frank Straub received his education in a 
 German school in Hrooklyn, N. \'. He 
 learned the machinist's trade in that cit}'. 
 Later he joined the I'nion army and was 
 stationed at b'ort Schuyler untler (ieneral 
 
FRANK X. STKAL'B anu (.kaxd-haiciukk, MILDRED WELLS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 59 
 
 Schoficld. At the close of the war he learned 
 the Ixirber's trade in New York City, ami 
 there worked at it for some years. Comin"' to 
 Middicbiirg in 1868, he opened a barber shop 
 here, and has since been in active business in 
 this town. He has been interested in every 
 important movement which has touched closely 
 the welfare or progress of the town tluring 
 the last tliirt)- years. 
 
 The fire department, which is considered 
 one of the best volunteer organizations in the 
 State, owes him a s|U'cial debt of gratitude. 
 It was started on Decemlier 31, 1887, by a vote 
 of the village trustees. A commodious brick 
 engine-house was built at a cost of two thou- 
 sand dollars, and a steamer and a hook and 
 ladder company formed. Mr. Straub raised 
 fifteen hundred dollars for the hook and ladder 
 company, and made a personal contribution of 
 one hundred dollars toward the steamer. He 
 was foreman of the old Eagle engine, and was 
 foreman of the hook and ladder comiiany under 
 the new organization. He has always since 
 been connected with the tire department, and 
 takes an active interest in all matters connected 
 with it. He was also a jiioneer mover in be- 
 half of the water company, and together with 
 Mr. James C. Borst laid the first line of pipe 
 on October 26, 1894. He assisted in survey- 
 ing and in making maps at the time the vil- 
 lage was incorporated. I<"or tweh'e years he 
 had control of the teleiihone and of the local 
 office of the United States Signal Ser\-ice. 
 The telegraph line, which he manages and op- 
 erates, was built in June, 1889. This is pat- 
 ronized b}' all the leading business men in 
 
 Mitldlebnrg, and is now regarded as an indis- 
 pensable element in the transaction of daily 
 business. 
 
 Mr. .Straub was married in 1870 to Emma- 
 rette K. Gernse\-, daughter of Montreville 
 Gernsey, of this place. She was born in Mid- 
 dleburg. Her father is a native of this 
 count}', and her mother, whose maiden name 
 was Alida Hecker, was a native of Breakabeen. 
 Mrs. Gernsey died at the age of thirty-six, 
 having been the mother of nine children. Of 
 these the following-named six are living: Mrs. 
 Straub, Julia, Edith, Rosa, Roxy, and Lett. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Straub are the parents of three 
 children — Inez, Charles A., and Arthur E. 
 The first of these is the wife of Erank Wells, 
 a well-known druggist of Middlebuig, and is 
 the mother of one child, Mildred. Charles 
 A., who is a graduate of the LTnion College of 
 I^harmacy, is a druggist in Troy. Arthur is a 
 baker in Albany. 
 
 Mr. Straub is a communicant of the Episco- 
 pal church and a vestryman. He was con- 
 firmed in St. Luke's (.'hurch, Middlehurg, in 
 1869, by the Right Rev. William C. Doane. 
 All the members of his family were baptized 
 in the Episcopal faith. In 1 88(1 Mr. Straub 
 made a trip to liurope and visited his birth- 
 place, where he was accorded a most generous 
 reception. 
 
 Mr. .Straub is a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and 
 a member of the Columbian Literar)' Society 
 and of other fraternal organizations. The fol- 
 lowing record is of interest in this connection : 
 
 He was elected Quartermaster Sergeant of 
 Steuben Zouaves, Twenty-fifth Regiment, Com- 
 
6o 
 
 lUOCRArHKAL REVIEW 
 
 pany I, in 1865; joined Good Tcmiilnrs, 
 Albany, in 1S67; raised to tiie sublime degree 
 of Master Mason at Middlebiirg Lodge, No. 
 662, F. & A. M., ill 1877; secretary of same 
 lodge from 1S81 to 1S86; trustee of lodge from 
 1896 to 1901 ; elected to membersbip of La 
 Bastille Lodge in 1882, and elected secrctar\- 
 of La Bastille Lodge in 1885; reorganized 
 Eagle Engine Company and elected foreman 
 of same in 1884; organized Scribner Hook 
 and Ladder Compan\- in 18S8, and elected 
 foreman of Scribner lluoU and Ladder Com- 
 pany for two years; elected assistant chief 
 of Middleburg Fire Department, and elected 
 member of Oncongena Tribe, No. 242, Im- 
 proved Order of Red Men, i8g8; elected mem- 
 ber of Middleburg luicampment, No. 129, 
 1894; a]i|iointed under Governor Morton No- 
 tary Public, 1895 to 1901; elected Trustee 
 and Collet'tor of \-illageof Middleluug, 1897. 
 
 ll.AKLH.S K. NICHOLS, a prominent 
 j; law\er and c.\-.Su|)ervisor of Jefferson, 
 .Schoharie C_"ount)', was born in this 
 town. May 2, 1862, son of Hiram O. and Eliz- 
 abeth (Totten) Nichols. PI is great-grand- 
 father, ]'>.ra Nichols, who was a pioneer in 
 Delaware County, went there from Danijury, 
 Conn., when the grandfathei', Daniel Nichols, 
 was eight years old. The latter became a 
 prosjjcrous farmer in Harpersfield. He had a 
 family of nine children, namely: Laura; 
 Fann\-; .Sally; Daniel .S. ; Ezra; Betse\', who 
 became Mrs. 15ecker Clernen ; Whitman; 
 Hannah; and Hiram O., above named. 
 
 Hiram O. Nichols, father of Charles I-'., 
 formerly carried on mercantile business in con- 
 nection with farming. He is now retired. 
 His wife, Elizabeth, is a daughter of John and 
 
 . Amanda (Davis) Totten, of Harpersfield. 
 The\' have had three children: Charles E., the 
 subject of this sketch; Orson, who died at the 
 age of twenty-six years ; and Rollo, who is a 
 prosperous dairy farmer in Harpersfield, is an 
 influential member of the Republica.i part)-, 
 and served as a Justice of the Peace. 
 
 , Charles K. Nichols was graduated from the 
 Delaware Literary Institute, I'ranklin, in 
 1882, and for a time attended Hamilton Col- 
 lege. His law studies were completed in 
 Schoharie, and, having been admitted to the 
 bar in 1885, he in August of the following 
 year ojiened an office in Jefferson. The skil- 
 ful and energetic handling of some of his first 
 important cases was the means of gaining a 
 numerous and profitable clientage, and he has 
 become a w'ell-known practitioner before the 
 courts of Otsego, Delaware, Greene, Lister, 
 Albaii\', and .Scholiarie Counties. He has 
 figured prominently in several liotlv contested 
 suits, one of which, an action brought by 
 certain parties for the reeoverv of ta.xes, neces- 
 sarily aroused the interest of the general pub- 
 lic; and his able management of another 
 notable case, which hati its origin in a politi- 
 cal dispute, resulted in a \ictory for the local 
 Republican organization. .As one of the most 
 able and active supporters of that party he has 
 rendered valuable committee service, has been 
 a delegate to various conventions, including 
 the one which nominated ( iovernor Black, and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 was a candidate for District Attorney in 1888. 
 While holding the office of Supervisor in 1892- 
 93, he was chosen chairman of the equaliza- 
 tion committee and a member of the com- 
 mittee that erected the new almshouse, was 
 instrumental in securing an appropriation for the 
 repair of the fort, and rooms of the Historical 
 Society at Schoharie. He has held other posi- 
 tions of trust. 
 
 Mr. Nichols married Hattie A. Hubbell, 
 daughter of Dr. Richtmeyer Hubbell, of Jeffer- 
 son. They have two children — Grace A. and 
 Charles E., Jr. 
 
 Mr. Nicliols is a member of the Delta Kappa 
 Epsilon Fraternity of Hamilton College, and 
 has reached an advanced degree in the Masonic 
 order, being a Past Master of the lilue Eodge, 
 and the only resident of this town who belongs 
 to the Commandery and the Mystic Shrine. 
 His lucrative practice has enabled him to 
 amass a competenc)' ; and besides holding con- 
 siderable stock in the water compan}', of 
 which he is a director, he owns some valuable 
 real estate, including agricultural property and 
 village lots. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols are mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 WILLIAM A. VVASSON, M.D., a 
 leading ph\'sician of Greenville, 
 N.\'., was born in 1852 in Hamburg, Erie 
 County, this State. He is the only son of 
 Horace and .Susan E. (Oberholser) Wasson. 
 His grandfather, John Wasson, was one of the 
 pioneers of Hamburg, coming to that place, 
 
 which lay in the uUl Holland patent, in 1800, 
 at the age of nineteen. There he worked at 
 farming during the remainder of his life, and 
 on the homestead the succeeding generations 
 of the family have been born. He serveil dur- 
 ing the War of 1S12 as a Captain in the mili- 
 tia. He (.lied at the age of seventy-four. His 
 wife, who died in middle life, was before her 
 marriage a Miss Griffin. Of the five ciiildren 
 born to her, two are living — Horace and 
 Thomas, both of whom reside in Buffalo. 
 
 Horace Wasson was born on the Wasson 
 farm in Hamburg in 1S23, and was reared to 
 farm life. In enrly manhood he showed 
 marked administrati\-e ability, and this secured 
 his appointment to the responsible position of 
 superintendent of the Erie County Insane Asy- 
 lum in Buffalo, the duties of which he dis- 
 charged in a faithful and efficient manner for a 
 quarter of a century. The institution was a 
 large one, having about a hundred and fifty 
 inmates. Mr. Wasson is one of the well- 
 known citizens of Buffalo. He gave uji his 
 position in the asylum in 1S73, and has since 
 given his attention to his personal business 
 interests in that city. His wife, who is of 
 German stock, was born in Otsego County. 
 Her father, John Oberholser, who reached tiie 
 advanced age of ninety-four years, was a car- 
 penter, and worked at his trade in Lancaster 
 County when a young man. Later he re- 
 moved to Otsego Count)-, and finall}- to Am- 
 herst, Erie County, where he resided until his 
 death. He bad a family of nine children. 
 Mrs. Wasson is a memljer of the Church of the 
 Disciples. She has two children : Dr. Will- 
 
62 
 
 BIOGRArillCAI. RF.VIEW 
 
 iam A. ; and Carrie, who is the wife (if VV. S. 
 Turbett, of Buffalo. 
 
 Dr. Wasson began earninLi; hi.s own living 
 in his thirteenth year, when he went to work in 
 a broker'.s office in Buffalo. He was there for 
 a year, and then became an employee in the 
 Erie County Savings Bank for another year. 
 Following this he attended .St. Luke's School 
 for a year, and then went to Rochester as gen- 
 eral agent for the Knickerbocker Life Insur- 
 ace Comjiany, this being in 1867 and 1868. 
 Subsequently he was for a \-ear in college at 
 Alliance, Ohio, and he then returned to 
 Buffalo and became an assistant house physi- 
 cian in the ICrie County Hospital. This 
 position he held until 1872, when he was 
 appointed house physician. While there he 
 attended lectures at the Universit)- of Buffalo, 
 and in 1S72 received his degree from that in- 
 stitution. In 1873 he gave up his place at 
 the hosjjital, antl opened an office in l^uffalo for 
 the practice of medicine. There he remained 
 until 1S80, when he came to Greenville. He 
 has here a large general i)ractice, and is one of 
 the most popular physicians of tlie town. His 
 present residence, built fur him in 18S5, is one 
 of the finest in the \illage lukI, indeed, one of 
 the finest to be found in any of the villages in 
 the county. 
 
 'J'he Doctor was married in 1S75 to Carrie 
 H. Woo.ster, a native of We.sterlo, daughter of 
 Charles E. antl Melissa (Hitchcock) Wooster. 
 Her parents had a family of four children. 
 I""or many years they resided here, her father 
 being one of the well-known fanners of the 
 town. Dr. and Mrs. W'asson have an only 
 
 daughter, Alice ^L, who is the wife of John 
 H. .Sandford, a druggist in this town, and has 
 a little daughter, Ruth. 
 
 Dr. W'asson is a Democrat. IK' is warmly 
 interested in all jnildic matters, but the de- 
 mands of his profession [irexent him from tak- 
 ing a \ery active part in political affairs. He 
 is a member of the (Ireene County Medical 
 Society, and while in Buffalo was a member of 
 the Erie County Medical Society, and also of 
 the Buffalo Medical Club, which has since 
 developed into the Buffalo Academy of Medi- 
 cine. The Doctor occasionally takes a rest 
 from his professional labors b\' indulging his 
 tastes as a sportsman. He is an excellent 
 shot, and is the owner of several guns and of 
 hunting dogs. He has been actively associ- 
 ated with the Masonic organizatinn since 1877, 
 when he joined the (Jueen City Lodge in 
 Buffalo. Upon coniing here he received mem- 
 bership in the James M. Austin Lodge, and of 
 this he has been five years Master, and was 
 two years District Deput\- in the old Lle\enth 
 District under Crand .Master Will iam .She\er 
 and Crand Master Burnham. He has tilled all 
 the chairs in the lodge. It was at his instiga- 
 tion that the Green\ille Royal Arch Chapter 
 was organized, and he has been its High Priest 
 from the start. He was a charter member of 
 Jefferson Lodge, A. O. U. W., of l^uffalo, and 
 while in that cit\' was examining physician of 
 the lodge. He has hekl the office of trustee of 
 the academ\-, and is at the jirescnt time a 
 member of the l^oard of lulucation. He is 
 also one of tiie three lire commissioners of the 
 town and chief of the fue department. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 63 
 
 I L LI AM T. WADDELL, Super- 
 visor of the town of Duanesburg, 
 N.Y. , was born where he now resides, son of 
 William and Jane (McMillan) Waddell. His 
 father, who is still li\ing, was born near Edin- 
 burgh, Scotland, May 5, 1815, and his mother 
 was born in Rotterdam, N.Y. , about the 
 year 1 820. 
 
 William Watldell emigrated when nineteen 
 years old, first locating in Rotterdam, and for 
 a time he followed the tailor's trade. Turning 
 his attention to agriculture, he came to Duanes- 
 burg over fifty years ago, and, purchasing the 
 farm which his son is now cultivating, he 
 tilled the soil successfully for the rest of his 
 active period. Jane, his wife, became the 
 mother of two sons, namely: James McMillan 
 Waddell, a Civil War veteran, who is now a 
 lumberman in the West; antl William T. , the 
 subject of this sketch. Mrs. Jane M. Wad 
 dell died in June, 1891. William Waddell 
 has been a Republican in politics since the 
 formation of the party, and in his religious be- 
 lief he is a Presbyterian. 
 
 William T. Waddell was educated in the 
 common schools. From his youth upward he 
 has made general farming his chief occupation, 
 having assisted his father until taking the 
 entire management of the property. Besides 
 the original home farm of one hundred and six 
 acres he owns ninety-five acres of adjoining 
 land. He raises large and superior crops, and 
 makes a specialty of breeding full-blooded 
 Guernsey cattle and Shropshire sheep. His 
 industry and progressive tendencies are dis- 
 played to excellent advantage, and his farm. 
 
 which is desirably located, contains good, sub- 
 stantial buildings. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Waddell married for his first 
 wife Jennie W^ilkins. She died in 1S73, leav- 
 ing one son, Samuel W. , who married Eliza- 
 beth Mead, resides in this town, and has one 
 son. In 1875 Mr. Waddell married for his 
 second wife Louisa Schrade, a native of 
 Duanesburg. By this union there is one son, 
 Harry. 
 
 Mr. Waddell has long been prominently 
 identified with local public affairs, having 
 served as Inspector of Elections several years. 
 Overseer of the Poor two years, Justice of the 
 Peace si.x years, while he is now serving his 
 si.xth teim as Supervisor, being indorsed by 
 both parties. In politics he is a Republican. 
 He belongs to St. George Lodge, No. 6, F. & 
 A. M., of Schenectady. He has held all of 
 the important chairs of Bethany Lodge, No. 
 524, I. O. O. F. , and is a Past Master and 
 now secretary of F2mpire Grange, No. 784, 
 Patrons of Husbandry. He attends the Epis- 
 copal church. 
 
 KEWIS SHELMANDINE, formerly a 
 prosperous farmer and cattle dealer of 
 ^^^ Jefferson, was born in this town, July 
 16, 181 I. He was a son of John and Lizzie 
 (Washburn) Shelmandine and grandson of 
 Richard Shelmandine an Englishman, who 
 was one of the first settlers in Jefferson. 
 Richard .Shelmandine married a Miss Kniskem, 
 of Blenheim, and resided upon a faiin in this 
 town for the rest of his life. He and his wife 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL RFA'IEW 
 
 reared four sons and one dauj^hter; namely, 
 Henry, Borant, ]?cnjamin, John, and Mary. 
 Henry was a lifelong resident of Jefferson, 
 liorant, who was in his younger days a hutiter, 
 later went to Oil Creek, I'a. I?enjamin 
 settled in Tcnnsylvania. Mary married Oba- 
 diah Ruland. 
 
 Jiihn .Shelmandine, father of Lewis, was 
 born in Jefferson, and here .spent the active 
 period of his life in tilling the soil. In iSoi 
 he married Lizzie Washburn, of Danhury, 
 Conn. She became the mother of nine chil- 
 dren, namely: Kate, who is no longer living; 
 Joseph, who died in Jefferson in iScSS; Re- 
 becca, who died in Farmington, Pa. ; Rhcda, 
 who died in Illinois; Lewis, the subject of 
 this sketch; Daniel, who tlied in lilenheim ; 
 Reuben, who died in Jefferson in 1X94; Sally, 
 who died in New "N'ork ; and Charles, who died 
 in Ohio. John Shelmandine died at the age 
 of forty-seven years, leaving his wife with a 
 large and dependent family. .She, however, 
 was an e.\ceedingl\' capable woman, and suc- 
 ceeded in bringing up her chihhen. She was 
 a member of the Methodist Kpiscopal chnrch 
 and a devout Christian. 
 
 Lewis Shelmandine was but fourteen years 
 old when his father's death maile it necessary 
 for him to become self-supjiorting, and he 
 began industrial life as a farm assistant. 
 While still a young man he engaged in farm- 
 ing on his own account, and shortly after his 
 marriage he returned to the homestead farm. 
 1 1 is energy and thrift soon ])laced him among 
 the leailing dairy farmers and cattle dealers of 
 the coimty, his farm in the nieaiiwhilc luu'ing 
 
 been increased from about one hundred to four 
 hundred acres. He raised, bought, and sold 
 live stock, took many jirizes at fairs, jnuxhased 
 premium cattle, which he scdd at a ])rofit, and 
 became widely known as an excellent authority 
 in all matters relating to the li\'e-stock busi- 
 ness. He was a progressive as well as an 
 industrious man, and quick to apjireciate every 
 improvement in agricultural machinery, being 
 the first farmer in Schoharie Count)' to pur- 
 chase a mowing machine. In 1856 he built a 
 new farm residence, and in 1S71 he erected a 
 handsome house in the village, where his last 
 days were sj^ent. 
 
 On March 6, 1834, Mr. Shelmandine was 
 joined in marriage with Harriet Pitcher, who 
 was born in the town of .Summit, I'"ebruar\- 5, 
 I Si 3, a daughter of Horace Pitcher. Plight 
 children were the fruit of their union ; nameh', 
 Charles, lilizabeth, Phoebe A., Catharine, 
 Sarah M., Mary, Lmeline, and Rominda. 
 Charles married Lydia Prockway, and resides 
 in Lminence, N. Y. Elizabeth is the wife of 
 P'rank Hannay, of PIminence. Sarah M., who 
 married David (]. Proper, of -Summit, died 
 I-"ebruary 28, 1870. Mary first married Will- 
 iam L. Proper, who died lea\ing one son, 
 Lewis. -She afterward marrietl David S. 
 Palmer, a resident of Jefferson. P-meline nr.ir- 
 ried T. O. lUirnett, and resides in .Summit; 
 and Rominda married P\ron pLuiiett, and 
 resides in Cobleskill. Charles and Llizabcth 
 were formerh- schotd teachers. .Ml the chil- 
 dren united with the Methodist P^dscopal 
 chinch. 
 
 Jn ])olitics Mr. .Shelmandine wen! from the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 6S 
 
 Whig party to the Democratic party, became 
 a Republican at the breaking out of the Civil 
 War, and in his last days joined the party of 
 Prohibition. He assisted in building the 
 Methodist church at East Jefferson, of which 
 he was for some years a steward and trustee. 
 Benevolence was one of his leading traits, and 
 he relieved the suffering of the poor with a 
 willingness free from ostentation. He died 
 March 5, 1889, surviving his wife some nine- 
 teen years, her death having occurred February 
 23, 1870. Mrs. Shelmandine, like her hus- 
 band, was an earnest member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and both were mourned as a 
 severe loss to the community. 
 
 'ENRY F. OEMSTEAD, Catskill 
 agent of the Greene County Bible 
 Depository and a retired agent of 
 the American Express Company, was born in 
 Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Conn., Novem- 
 ber 22, 181 3, son of Nathan and Martha 
 (Watrous) Olmstead. His parents were both 
 natives of that town, and his paternal grand- 
 father, Jared Olmstead, followed farming there 
 as long as he lived. Nathan Olmstead was a 
 carpenter by trade, and besides following this 
 mechanical calling he taught school many 
 years. His death occurred in Ridgefield at the 
 age of fifty-seven. He was a member of the 
 Congregational church. His wife, Martha, 
 who was a daughter of John Watrous, a farmer, 
 was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. She died at thiit}'-four years of age, 
 havinir been the mother of seven children. 
 
 Henry 1". Olmstead is now the only survivor 
 of his father's family. In his boyhood he at- 
 tended the common schools of Ridgefield, and 
 subsequently, both jirior to and after comjjlet- 
 ing a course at Hilton Academy, he taught 
 school in Norwalk. Relinquishing educational 
 work, he went to Hudson, N.Y. , to learn the 
 trade of a hatter, and worked as a journeyman 
 there two years. In 1842 he came to Catskill, 
 where he continued his trade on his own ac- 
 count for two years, and opening a retail hat 
 store continued it for a period of nearly 
 twenty-five years, during the latter ]iart of the 
 time occupying the building in which he ncjvv 
 has an office. For fifteen years, beginning in 
 185 I, he conducted in addition to the other the 
 business of the local agency for the American 
 Express Company. In 1 886 the express busi- 
 ness had become so developed in importance 
 that he disposed of his hat business. He con- 
 tinued to represent the company until Decem- 
 ber, 1880, when failing health compelled him 
 to relinquish the arduous duties of his posi- 
 tion. As a reward for his long and faithful 
 service the company placed him on their emer- 
 itus list, retiring him upon half-pay. Since 
 1 88 1 he has transacted a real estate business, 
 has been the local agent for foreign steamship 
 lines, has looked after the Clark estate, and 
 for the past five years has been the Catskill 
 agent for the Greene County Bible Depository. 
 In politics he was originally a Whig, and, fa- 
 voring the principles of the Republican move- 
 ment, he was instrumental in organizing that 
 party in this locality. He was Civil Justice 
 for sixteen years, and three years Police Justice, 
 
66 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and was noted for the impartial manner in 
 vviiich he dis])osed cjf all cases coming inuler 
 his jiH'isdiction. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Olpistead was united in mar- 
 riage with Lydia H. Utley, daughter of Ralph 
 and Sarah (Huntington) Utley. He has had 
 two children, namely: a daughter, Mary How- 
 ard Olmsteacl, who is organist of the Presbyte- 
 rian cluH'ch, and who teaches music; and a 
 son, Henry F. , who died aged four }ears. 
 
 Mr. Olmstead was formerly a member of 
 the Sons of Temperance. For many years he 
 has been an Elder of the Presbyterian church. 
 He is a ])crnianent Deacon, and was superin- 
 tendent of the Sunda\--school for nearly twenty 
 years. He has outlived the majority of his 
 business contemporaries, having particijjated 
 in the development of Catskill from a small 
 hamlet to its ])re.sent size. He still has in his 
 possession the old hand sled, built by him forty- 
 ti\e years ago, upon which he transported the 
 Aiuerican Express packages during the early 
 days of that company's existence. 
 
 I<:TER V. VAN EPS, a well-to-do 
 farmer of Glenville, N.Y., was born 
 in this town, No\ember 13, 1825, son 
 of Albert and Anna (Swart) Van Eps. The 
 family is of Dutch origin, as the name im- 
 plies. Its immigrant progenitor was Dirk 
 V^an Iqis, who settled in Schenectady County 
 as early as 1662 or 1663. Johannes Dirksie 
 Van liips, son of Dirk, and the next in line, 
 was killed in the Indian massacre of 1690. 
 He had four sons and four daughters; and 
 
 Invert \'an I'^js, one of his scnis, great-grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was twice 
 married, and bad fi\'e s(uis and five daughters. 
 Johannes J5aphst \'an Ejjs, the grandfather, 
 was born in Glenville, May 13, 1731. When 
 a young man he located upon a tract of w'ild 
 land, which he cleared into a good farm, and 
 the rest of his active years were devoted to 
 its cultivation. He luarried Anna X'edder on 
 May 2, 1761, antl had a family of thirteen 
 children. He died January 11, 1813. 
 
 Albert Van V.ps, the father, was born in 
 Glenville, May 16, 1785. .\ sturdy and a 
 thrifty farmer, he made excellent use of the 
 resources at his command; and he resided here 
 until his death, which occurred March 17, 
 1831. Politically, he acted with the Whig 
 party. He was a member of the Keformed 
 church. Mrs. Anna Swart Van I'"ps, his wife, 
 was born in this town, Januar\' 16, 1790, and 
 died July 22, 1841. They had nine children, 
 four of whom aie li\-ing, namely: .Ann I'^liza, 
 born September 16, 1819; Sarah, born Sep- 
 tember 12, 1S23; Peter \'., the subject of this 
 sketch; and Josiah, born February 11, 182S. 
 The others were: John A., born December 14, 
 181 3; Jacobus S., born December 24, 1815; 
 Ilarmanus S., born August 13, 1817; Josias, 
 born December 11, 1821, died in infancy; and 
 Susanna, born June 18, 1830. 
 
 Peter \'. Van Eps was educ:ited in the 
 schools of iiis native town. While still a 
 youth he began to assist in the work of the 
 farm ; and, having succeeiled to the ownership 
 of a portion ol the homestead property on com- 
 inu of age, he has tilletl the soil with cner- 
 
I'ETER \-. \A.\ EPS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 69 
 
 getic diligence and resulting prosperity for the 
 past fifty years. His farm is situated in the 
 fertile valley of the Mohawk, not far from 
 Hoffman's I'Y'rry, and in the immediate vicin- 
 ity of the spot where his ancestrn- erected a 
 primitive abode in the pioneer days. The 
 region abounds in charming natural scenery, 
 including Wolf Hollow; and the traveller who 
 goes out of his way to ride through this pictur- 
 esque ravine is amply paid for his pains. The 
 cries of the wild beasts heard by the early set- 
 tlers have given way to the more welcome 
 sounds of implements of industry, and the 
 valley is now dotted on either side witli well- 
 kept farm-houses. 
 
 On June 3, 1851, Mr. Van Eps was united 
 in marriage with Mary Ann Davenport, who 
 was born in Troy, N.Y. , March 23, 1828, 
 daughter of David Davenport. Mrs. Van Eps 
 is the mother of three sons, of whom the fol- 
 lowing is a brief record: Jewett Edwin, born 
 December 25, 1853, married Mary Conda, and 
 is now cashier of the First National Ixmk, 
 Schenectady; Da\'id Augustus, a prosperous 
 farmer of Glenville, born September 15, 1854, 
 married Annie R. Van Loan, and has two 
 children — Jewett E. and Helen M. ; and 
 Frank Stanley Van Eps, born July 4, 1859, 
 married Marion Hosworth, and is now a Chris- 
 tian Science healer in Chicago. 
 
 Owning one of the oldest farms in Glen- 
 ville, Mr. Van Eps keeps up with the times in 
 the way of improvements, and occupies a hand- 
 some modern residence. In politics he is a 
 Republican. He is esteemed both for his 
 manly characteristics and as a representative 
 
 of one of the most highly reputable families 
 in this section of the county. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Van Eps are members of the Reformed church, 
 and are socially prominent. 
 
 ^ICHOLAS BRADT, a prominent resi- 
 dent and representative of one of the 
 oldest families of VVoestina (Rotter- 
 dam Junction), N.Y., was born in this town, 
 September 14, 1824, son of Abram N. and 
 Maria (Vedder) Bradt. He is a descendant of 
 Arent Andriese Bratt, or Brat, the first of the 
 family to settle in Schenectady County, who 
 died soon after his arrival here in 1662. 
 He married Catajyntie De Vos, daughter of 
 Andries De Vos, who was Deputy Director of 
 Rensselaerwych. The first ancestor to locate 
 in Rotterdam was Abram A. Bradt, who was 
 an industrious farmer, and who died at Woes- 
 tina. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah 
 Van Patten. Nicholas A. Bradt, the grand- 
 father of the subject of this biography, was 
 born in Rotterdam, N. Y., August 15, 1773. 
 He was in his younger days a blacksmith, but 
 later turned his attention to farming, which 
 he followed energetically for the rest of his 
 active years. He was at one time Alderman 
 from the Third Ward of Schenectady, Albany 
 County, and also held minor offices. In poli- 
 tics he was a Jeft'ersonian Democrat. He died 
 July 9, 1850. He married Margaret Mabee, 
 who was born in Rotterdam in 1776, and died 
 December 13, 1S50. They were members of 
 the Dutch Reformed church, and the grand- 
 father was an Elder for more than twenty years. 
 
7° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Abram N. Bradt, the father above named, 
 was born in W'oestiiia, August 22, 1/93- He 
 was an able farmer and a leading citizen, serv- 
 ing as Supervisor in 1846 and filling other 
 town offices. In politics he voted with the 
 Democratic party. He was an active member 
 and an Klder of the Reformed church. Maria, 
 his wife, whom he married May 2, i8i<S, was 
 born December 5, 1801. .She became the 
 mother of seven children, three of whom are 
 living, namely: Jemima, who married John \'. 
 Van Patten, of Glenville; Nicholas, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; and Harman Bradt, who 
 resides in Petersburg, \'a. The others were : 
 Margaret, Simon, Sarah, and a child that died 
 in infancy. The mother died May 12, 1833; 
 and the father, who survived her many years, 
 died November 5, 1878. 
 
 Nicholas Bradt was educated in the district 
 schools of W'oestina, and working with his 
 father acquired a good knowledge of general 
 farming. He has made agriculture a profitable 
 emjjloyment, and since i860 has resided on the 
 farm of one hundred acres which he is still 
 carrying on witli energy. He also owns the 
 homestead farm, which contains the same 
 number of acres, and he ranks among the well- 
 to-do residents of this section. 
 
 On September 29, 1857, Mr. Bradt was 
 united in marriage with Hester Bradt, who was 
 ixirn in ivntlerdam, No\-cmber 13, 1834. Mrs. 
 ]?ra(lt became the mother of seven children, 
 namely: Helen E., born I'^ebruary 15, 1862; 
 Aaron I'rank, born June 29, 1865; Margaret, 
 born October 13, 1869; P'lizabeth, born June 
 17, 1872, now the wife of Martin 11. .Schcr- 
 
 merhorn ; Simon \'. , l^orn January 29, 1875; 
 Maria, who married Simon \'. \'eeder, and 
 died at the age of twenty-one years; aiul 
 Abram, who died at the age of twenty-four. 
 Mrs. Bradt died May i, 1889. 
 
 Mr. Bradt has been a Trustee of the town, 
 was an Assessor for some time, and has ren- 
 dered efficient services in other town offices. 
 Politically, he is a Democrat. lie attends the 
 Reformed church, and his children are mem- 
 bers. 
 
 ^I'l.SON O. GRKKN, contractor and 
 builder, of Taiiners\'ille, Greene 
 County, N.Y., and a Civil War 
 veteran, was born in Hunter, this county. May 
 25, 1S44, son of Giles an<l .Sarah (W'arner) 
 Green. His father was born in Hunter, May 
 23, 1800, and his mother, who was of Dutch 
 descent, was a native of Conesville, Schoharie 
 County. His paternal grandfather, .Seth 
 Green, who came from Connecticut, fountl his 
 way here by the aid of marked trees, and was 
 the third to settle where the \-illage (jf Hunter 
 is now located. Taking up a ti;ict of land, he 
 erected a log house and followed farming. He 
 was quite prominent here in Iiis day, and served 
 as Justice of the Peace. He died at the age 
 of eighty-seven. He had a large family of 
 children, si.\ of whom li\ed to be o\er eighty 
 years old. 
 
 Giles Green, father of Nelson O., obtained 
 his education in tiie common schools, and in 
 bis youth worked ui)on the home farm. Later 
 he had one liundred and twenty-five acres of 
 the homestead propert}', ujjon wliicii he erected 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 71 
 
 a ilwelling and engaged in farming, becoming 
 well-to do. Besides this [Mopeity he owned a 
 number of houses in Hunter. In jiolitics he 
 was a Democrat. He died at eighty-nine years 
 of age. His wife, Sarah, died at the age of 
 eighty-four. She was the mother of four 
 children, three of whom are living; namely. 
 Nelson O., Emma E. , and Gilbert. Emma 
 E. Green is the widow of George Pollock, and 
 Gilbert is a resident of this town. The ]3ar- 
 ents were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 NeLson O. Green began his education in the 
 common schools of Hunter. He resided at the 
 parental home until he was thirteen years old, 
 when he went to Romeo, Mich., twenty-eight 
 miles from Detroit, where he remained two 
 years, attending school and following various 
 kinds of employment. Returning East, he en- 
 listed in 1862 in the One Hundred and Twen- 
 tieth New York Regiment, with which he 
 served three years in the Civil War. He saw 
 a great deal of active service, and was slightly- 
 wounded. He participated in the battles of 
 Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettys- 
 burg — at the last-named place the regiment 
 losing one thousand out of fifteen hundred men 
 in a short time — the battles of Mine Run, 
 Spottsylvania, Tolapotamie, Chickahominy, 
 Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg, 
 where on March 25, 1863, he was taken 
 prisoner. He was confined in Libby Prison 
 until paroled, when he rejnined his regiment 
 in Washington. He was made Second Ser- 
 geant, hut declined further promotion, and 
 was mustered out at the close of the war. 
 
 Upon his return he went to Saugerties, 
 N. Y. , where he was engaged in farming for 
 two years. Later he worked in the chair 
 factory at Susquehanna, and followed this 
 occupation for twelve years in different towns. 
 Coming to Hunter in 1874, he was employed in 
 the chair factory for four years, and then turned 
 his attention to carjientering, doing a consider- 
 able business in this line in towns along the 
 Hudson for six years. When Onteora, Elka, 
 and Twilight Parks were opened, he engaged in 
 contracting for the building of cottages; and he 
 has erected a number at each place, employing 
 a large force of men. 
 
 In 1874 Mr. Green was joined in marriage 
 with Alice M. Lester, of Hunter. They have 
 had four children — Jeanette, William, Robert, 
 and Jasper. Jeanette, who is a graduate of the 
 State Normal .School, is now engaged in teach- 
 ing. Jasper died at the age of nineteen. 
 
 Mr. Green is a Republican in politics, but 
 has declined j^ublic office. Pie is a comrade of 
 A. N. Baldwin Post, No. 263, G. A. R., of 
 Hunter, and has ser\ed as color-bearer for seven 
 years. 
 
 f^^JKORGE LINTNER DANEORTH, 
 \mJ_ one of the leading lawyers of Scho- 
 harie County and a resident of Middleburg, 
 was born here on July 19, 1844, son of Judge 
 Peter and Aurelia (Lintner) Danforth. All 
 the traditions of his family and the surround- 
 ings of his youth lent their influence in 
 preparing him for the legal profession. His 
 grandfather, George Danforth, who dietl in the 
 South, was a lawyer of pre-eminent abilit}'. 
 
^2 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and his father was jicrhaps the most eminent 
 [jiactitioner of law tliat the county has pro- 
 duced. His grandmother, whose maiden name 
 was Cornelia Swart, was horn in Schoharie 
 County of Dutch parentage. One of his 
 uncles, General George E. Danforth, acquired 
 a high reputation in puhlic affairs, and distin- 
 guished himself as a brigade commander in the 
 Civil War. 
 
 IMr. Danforth 's father, Judge Peter S. Dan- 
 forth, lived to the age of more than threescore 
 antl tilteen years, and in his long and honor- 
 able career filled many public positions. In 
 1S72 he was m;ide Justice of the .Sujireme 
 Court. He was a member of the Dutch Re- 
 formed church. His wife was a member of 
 the Lutheran church until her man iage, when 
 she united with the Reformed church. Mrs. 
 Danforth died at the age of seventy-one. .She 
 was a daughter of the Rev. George A. Liiitner, 
 D. D., who was for many \ears jiresident of the 
 Lutheran .S\ni)d and for twent\--five years jias- 
 tor of .St. Paul's Lutheran Chvuxh at Schoharie, 
 N. Y. fie died at the age of seventy-five, leav- 
 ing two children — Mrs. Danforth and Joseph 
 Albert Lintner. The latter has been for many 
 years entomologist for the .State of New York. 
 Judge and Mrs. Dniforth had three children; 
 namely, (ieorgc L. , Cornelia, and the Wnn. 
 IClliot Danforth. Cornelia married Isaac \V. 
 J'"erris, a son of Chancellor Isaac Ferris, of 
 New \'ork University. 
 
 Cjeorge L. Danforth, the subject of the 
 present sketch, in his bo)'hootl attended the 
 connnon scho(ds of Middleburg, a select 
 school, and .Schoharie Academ\'; and later, 
 
 after continuing his studies for a while under 
 a jjrivate tutor, he entered Rutgers College, 
 from which he was gradated in 1863. From 
 his early years he had spent much time in his 
 father's otlfice, and in realit\- he was in practice 
 at the age of nineteen. At the age of twenty- 
 one he was admitted to the bar, and since that 
 time he has been in active practice. His 
 clients C(jme from all jiarts of the .State, and 
 he has practised in all the .Slate courts, in- 
 cluding the United .States Circuit Court of this 
 district. He is at the present time, with few 
 exceptions, the oldest member of the bar in the 
 county. He has been referee in many im])oi-- 
 tant cases, and counsel in a large number of 
 cases involving intricate points of law anil title 
 to real estate, and trustee of estates in this and 
 adjoining counties. For some time past he has 
 been counsel in the celebrated case in the First 
 Department known as the Coal Oil Johnny 
 .Soa]) Case, a suit iiiv(d\'ing hundretls of thou- 
 sands of dollars. Whether as counsel for 
 prosecution or defence, he has met with remark- 
 able success in winning legal contests for his 
 clients. 
 
 On December 15, i S69, Mr. Danforth was 
 united in marriage with .\nita Wliitaker, a 
 native of New York and daughter of George 
 and Hannah (Daggett) Whitaker. Her pater- 
 nal grandfather, the Re\'. Jonathan Whitaker, 
 was a Unitarian clerg\'man, and preachetl 
 mainl}' in Massachusetts, where he ilied at the 
 age of si.xty. Among his sons were several 
 clergymen, a judge who lesidetl in New Or- 
 leans, and a well-known government official. 
 Mrs. Danfoith's father was eiiLraiicd in mercan- 
 
""^i 
 
 F. V. ISEARD. 
 
BIOGRAl^HICAL REVIEW 
 
 75 
 
 tile business, shipping and importing South 
 American i^roducts. He sjient the greater part 
 of his life in New York, but died in Massachu- 
 setts at the age of fifty-four, at the home of a 
 brother. His wife was the daughter of a 
 wealthy ship captain and philanthropist of 
 Edgartown, Mass. She died at the age of 
 seventy-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Danforth 
 have lost two children. They have one son 
 living — Pierre W. Danforth, who is now 
 studying law with his father, and has for some 
 time been engaged in newspaper work. He is 
 the youngest editor in the county, and now 
 edits and publishes the Middleburg Puss, a 
 six-column quarto, which is an enterprising 
 weekly paper. 
 
 Mr. Danforth and his family are members of 
 the Dutch Reformed church, and Mr. Dan- 
 forth has been an Elder in the church for some 
 thirty years. He is warmly interested in 
 Sunday-school work, and teaches the I^ible 
 class; while his wife has a class of boys. For 
 many years he has been sent as a delegate to 
 the General Synod. He devotes much time to 
 literary work, frequently delivering addresses 
 and lectures and contributing articles to news- 
 papers and periodicals. Of fine executi\'e 
 ability, he readily manages the many interests 
 which press upon his personal attention, and 
 which would puzzle the average man to manage 
 at all. He is a trustee of Rutgers College, 
 and president of its alumni association, and is 
 also president of the Schoharie County Histoii- 
 cal Society, trustee of the Union Free School 
 and Academy of Middleburg, director of the 
 First National Bank, and treasurer of the 
 
 Middleburg & Schoharie Railroad Company. 
 Since the organization of the fire department, 
 ten years ago, he has been its chief. He has 
 given considerable attention to fraternal soci- 
 eties, and is an active worker in both the 
 Masonic and Odd P^ellows fraternities. 
 
 Mr. Danforth's home is the spacious man- 
 sion in the prettiest portion of the valley, 
 where the Danforth family has lived and exer- 
 cised hospitality for many years. 
 
 RANKLIN PIERCE BEARD, M.D., 
 s of Cobleskill, Schoharie County, well 
 known as a skilful physician and surgeon and 
 a large real estate owner, was born November 
 29, 1S52, in Jefferson, N.V. , a son of [acob 
 L. and Polly (Wilsey) Beard. He comes of 
 pioneer ancestry, his great-grandfather Beard 
 having been an original settler of that part of 
 Schoharie County that was named, in his 
 hoi]or, Beard's Hollow. There the Doctor's 
 paternal grandfather, John Beard, a prosjierous 
 farmer, spent his long life. 
 
 Jacob L. Beard was born and educated at 
 Beard's Hollow ; but when eighteen years old 
 he left the ancestral farm and came to Warner- 
 ville, this county, where he served an appren- 
 ticeship at the wagon-maker's trade. After 
 following this calling as a journeyman and 
 also in business for himself for several years 
 in that town, he remo\ed to Jefferson, and in 
 1863 transferred his business and his residence 
 to the neighboring x'illage of Summit, where 
 he was engaged in farming for a quarter of a 
 century. In iS8y he came to Cobleskill; and 
 
76 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 from thnt time until his cle:ith, in 1893, he 
 resitled with his son, Dr. Heard He was a 
 steadfast Democrat, and for a score of years 
 served as Justice of the Peace. His wife, 
 Polly W'ilscy, who was born in W'arnerville, 
 W'as a (laughter of Colonel Wilsc)', an officer in 
 the Revcjjutionar)' army. She bore her hus- 
 b;uul seven children; namely, Da\id, Samuel, 
 Rose, l-"ranklin Pierce, Marion, Adelle, and 
 John. The mother died at the ai;c of sixty- 
 ciji;ht years, in 18S1;. Poth parents were 
 members of the Methodist M])iscoi)al church. 
 
 Franklin P. Heard received a practical com- 
 mon-school education, and in his early man- 
 hood taught in a district school five terms. 
 Leaving home then, he turned his attention to 
 the study of medicine, having for his instruc- 
 tors successively Dr. Cornell, of Richmond- 
 ville; Dr. Spaulding, of Summit; and Dr. 
 Wood, of Jefferson. He subsequently entered 
 the Albany Medical College, from which he 
 was graduated as a member of the class of 
 1875. Heginning the practice of his profes- 
 sion in Pmineiice, he continued there about 
 two years. He then located in Summit, and 
 for ten years ranked as the leading practitioner 
 of that vicinity. Dr. l?eard came to Cobles- 
 kill in 1886; anil here, also, his eminent skill 
 an<l his close attention to his professional 
 duties lias rankeil him the leading physician of 
 the county, his opinions being largely sought 
 after in consultaticms extending to adjoining 
 counties. 
 
 He is a mendier of the .Schohaiie Count)' 
 Medical Society and of the Cobleskill Lodge, 
 V. & A. M. He was a .Super\isor in Sunnnit 
 
 in 1882, a Coroner in .Schoharie County nine 
 years; and from October, 1895, imtil October, 
 1897, he was examining surgeon of the Pen- 
 sion Department. 
 
 Dr. Beard is the proprietor of two fine farms 
 in Richmondville, this count\', one in I^leu- 
 heim, and one in .Sunnnit of ttvo hundred 
 acres, and ninet\' acres of land in Cobleskill. 
 The latter has been ])latted and divided into 
 building lots, a street being laid out through 
 one portion. He has likewise valuable building 
 property in the village, incluiling lots on Llm 
 Street, west of the Catholic church; and he 
 owns a fine business block in Smnmit. 
 
 In April, 1873, Dr. ]?eard married Miss .Alice 
 D., daughter of John Chickering, of Summit, 
 a well-known mechanic. Dr. and I\[rs. Heard 
 ha\x' five children; nameh', G. Claude, John 
 J., Leona, Mildred, and David. G. Claude, 
 who married Lulie Kilts, is a successful agri- 
 cultinist in Richmondville. John J., who w^as 
 graduated from the Albany Medical School in 
 1897, is a physician in Sharon Springs, N. Y. 
 
 IRHY \\TLHER, an enterprising mer- 
 lGi\ _ chant of Quaker Street, Duanes- 
 burg, Schenectady County, N.Y., was born 
 in this town, September 25, 1820, scm of 
 Kirby and Mercy (Allen) Wilber. He at- 
 tended school until fourteen years old, when 
 he entered the employ of Job Cleveland as a 
 store clerk, and remained with him two years. 
 After a short time spent in a store at Sche- 
 nectady he returned, and for the next three 
 years worked for James K. O'Neil. In 1840 
 
BIOGRArHrCAL REVIEW 
 
 77 
 
 he went to Brainard Bridge, Rensselaer 
 County, where he clerked in a general store 
 conducted by Hastings & Smith, cloth manu- 
 facturers, for eight years, at the end of which 
 time he purchased the stock, and for the suc- 
 ceeding five years carried on business in com- 
 pany with his brother, E. G. Wilber. Selling 
 out his interest in 1853, he returned once more 
 to Duanesburg; and, associating himself with 
 his brothers in a shoe manufactory in the lo- 
 cality known as Quaker Street, he was for the 
 next few years engaged in selling their prod- 
 ucts on the road. This business was started 
 in 184S by R. P. U. Wilber, who began mak- 
 ing shoes for the retail trade; but five years 
 later he established a manufactory to supply 
 the wholesale dealers only, and continued in 
 business until his death, which occurred in 
 1854. The present store of Wilber & Co. 
 was opened in i860, and carried on in connec- 
 tion with the factory until 1S67, when the 
 firm was dissolved. The business was con- 
 ducted by Kirby, E. G., and Charles C. Wilber 
 until 1S74, since which time Kirby and his son 
 Charles C. have been sole proprietors of the 
 m.ercantile establishment, consisting of a 
 well-stocked general store having a large pat- 
 ronage. The senior partner is one of the old- 
 est business men of this section in point of 
 exijerience, and through his ability, integrit)', 
 and other commendable characteristics he has 
 accpiired success. Aside from his mercantile 
 business he deals quite extensively in real 
 estate. His own residence is one of the hand- 
 somest in town. 
 
 Mr. Wilber contracted the first of his two 
 
 marriages in 1843, with Lucy Ann Crego, of 
 Chatham, Columbia County. She died in 
 1877, and in 1880 he married Mrs. Phcebe J. 
 Auchampaugh, horn Stevens, a nati\-e of 
 Wright, Schoharie County. He is the father 
 of five children, all by his first wife, namely: 
 Ellen M., who married the Rev. Milton Tator, 
 and died at the age of fifty-one years: ICmily 
 W., wife of Arthur D. Mead, of Schoharie; 
 Augusta A., wife of Charles E. Hoag, of 
 Quaker Street; Adeline C, wife of Walter 
 Briggs, of Schenectady; and Charles C. Wil- 
 ber, who is in business with his father. Mr. 
 Wilber has ten grandchildren. In politics he 
 is a Democrat. He is a member of the Chris- 
 tian church. 
 
 Charles C. Wilber was born at Brainard's 
 Bridge, May 30, 1847, and was educated in 
 the schools of Duanesburg. Eike his father 
 he entered mercantile pursuits when fourteen 
 years old, and is an excellent business man. 
 He acts with the Democratic party in politics, 
 and served with ability as Postmaster for three 
 years. On December 21, 1870, he married 
 limily Moon, who was born in this town in 
 Sejjtember, 1847, daughter of John and Emily 
 Moon. She is the mother of one son, Aichie 
 M. Wilber, who was born March 13, 1880. 
 
 ALTON VAN LOAN, of Catskill, 
 N. Y., publisher of the Catskill 
 Mountain Guide, was born in New York City 
 on January 8, 1834, son of Matthew D. and 
 Julia A. (Thompson) Van Loan. His grand- 
 father, Isaac Van Loan, a resident of Catskill, 
 
78 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 was a mason by trade, but was engaged for a 
 long period as cai)tain of a jiassenger sloop 
 plying between Catskill and New York. Cap- 
 tain Van Loan died at the age of seventy-two. 
 His wife, Jane Dies, who was born in Gilboa, 
 died at the age of seventy-four. 
 
 Mattiicw D. Van Loan was one of a family 
 of four ehildren. He was reared in this town 
 and ediieated in the common schools. in 1.S41 
 he went to New Vork City and opened a da- 
 guerreotype studio, being the first man in the 
 United States to make a business of producing 
 portraits iiy the new process. He continued 
 taking pictures for ten years in New York, and 
 from there went to I'biladtjlphia and later to 
 Washington, engaging in the same business. 
 Subse(|uently and up to the time of his death, 
 in 1856, he was employed in the custom- 
 liouse in San Francisco. Widely known as 
 a dagucrreot}'pe artist both in this country and 
 abroad, he took n".any prizes in American 
 cities and was given special iionors in I'-ng- 
 land. While in New York he had a revolving 
 gallery in the Delmonico Building, the only 
 one ever known. His wife, Julia, who died 
 at the age of seventy-seven, bore him three 
 ciiildren, two of whom are living. These are 
 Walton and Spencer. The latter, who was a 
 soldier in the Civil War, resides in this vil- 
 lage. Hoth parents were communicants of the 
 Episco]ial chureii, the father being one of the 
 vestrymen. 
 
 Walton Van Loan resided in Catskill until 
 he was twelve years of age, and then went 
 with his father to different cities. l'"or a time 
 he attended llie public schools in IMiiladcl- 
 
 phia. When about thirteen years of age he se- 
 cured an appointment as page in the national 
 House of Representatives. This position lie 
 held from 1846 to 1850, receiving in payment 
 sixty dollars per month in gold. In 1852 he 
 went to Californa via Nicaragua to join his 
 father, and paid bis own fare. He carried a 
 letter of introduction from Daniel Webster to 
 the custom-house officials in San h'rancisco, 
 and shortly after his arrival was given a jjosi- 
 tion in the custom-house. But be remained 
 in it only a short time, leaving to go as clerk 
 in a large book store. After four years in 
 that business he returned to Catskill and 
 bought out a store, which he conducted for the 
 ne.xt twenty years, up to 1878. In that year 
 he started his present business, which has 
 proved to be most successful. He has issued 
 about thirty-six thousand guide books and 
 about fifty thousand maps of the Catskills, 
 taking in the entire chain. He is conceded 
 to be the most reliable authority on points 
 concerning the geography and topography of 
 the Catskills, and no man in the country can 
 a]iproach him in extent of information con- 
 cerning this beautiful region. He has been 
 to the top of nearly every peak in the entire 
 range. 
 
 Mr. Van Loan was married in 1874 to Lucy 
 Beach, a native oi Michigan. He has now 
 lived in Catskill for forty-three years, and in 
 his ])resent residence ever since 1862, when it 
 was built. He is a member of St. Luke's 
 Church, and has the unparalleled record of 
 having been its treasurer for thirty years. 
 His wife is also a member of the same church, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 79 
 
 and both are active religious workers. Tlie 
 society has just completed a stone edifice, 
 which was opened on June 6, 1S99. This is 
 said to be one of the most beautiful buiUlings 
 to be found on the banks of the Hudson. 
 
 'R1':DERICK LEROSS FRAZEE, the 
 is editor and proprietor of the Jefferson 
 Courier, Jefferson, N.Y., was born in the town 
 of Gilboa, N.Y., June 24, 1872. His father, 
 Charles Osborn P>azee, is a much respected 
 and well-to-do farmer. 
 
 Mr. Frazee traces his paternal ancestry back 
 to Benoni Frazee, his great -great-grandfather, 
 who was of Scotch descent, and who during 
 the Revolutionary War was a resident of New 
 Jersey and aided the patriot cause by hauling 
 supplies for the American arm\'. ]3enoni 
 Frazee lost his little property through the 
 worthlessness of Continental money. With 
 his wife and eight children, he migrated, about 
 the year 1783. to Schoharie County, then 
 almost an unbroken wilderness, and settled on 
 a farm one mile from the present village of 
 Gilboa. Very soon thereafter he died, leaving 
 his widow and children to take care of them- 
 selves. 
 
 I5enjamin, the second son, who was born 
 March 8, 1774, remained on the farm with his 
 mother until he became a man. About the 
 year 1797 he married Margaret Monfort, of 
 Dutch lineage. Two years later he settled on 
 the farm now known as the Frazee home- 
 stead, at South Gilboa. He had five chil- 
 
 dren, two sons and three daughters. He died 
 August II, 1862, aged eighty-eight years. 
 
 Hiram, the second son of Benjamin Frazee, 
 was born November 19, 1804, and until his 
 death, which occurred April 2, 1S50, he lived 
 on the farm with his father. On l-'ebruary 
 13) ^'^il^ Hiram Frazee married I'htebe H. 
 Osborn, by whom he had five children, onl}' 
 two of whom survived him. 
 
 Charles Osboin, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch and the eldest son of Hiram Fra- 
 zee, was born on the ancestral farm, Ai^ril 27, 
 1836. After the death of his grandfather he 
 bought the place which is still his home. 
 January 28, 1864, he married Phoebe A. 
 Clark, a descendant of the Clark family of 
 Blenheim. Five chiltiren were born of this 
 union, but only two are now living, namely: 
 Harriet Estelle, who is now the wife of John 
 T. Shew, and lives at Harpersfield, where Mr. 
 Shew is engaged in the mercantile business; 
 and Frederick Leross, who is now, as above 
 noted, in the newspaper business at Jefferson. 
 
 Frederick Leross I-Vazee in his early years 
 received a good common-school education, and, 
 entering Stamford Seminary in the fall of 
 1888, finished a college preparatory course of 
 study there in 1891, receiving a regent's cer- 
 tificate and a diploma, which graduated him 
 from that school. In the fall of the same 
 year he entered Lin ion College at Schcnectad)' 
 N.Y. Here he pursued his studies for two 
 years. 
 
 In college Mr. Frazee was popular both in 
 society and athletics, and stood high in his 
 class. He was a member of his class foot-ball 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 team, and he belongs to the Greek letter soci- 
 ety, which is one of the largest and most pros- 
 perous college fraternities in tlie world. On 
 leaving college he returned to his home at 
 South Gilboa and soon after went to the State 
 of Illinois. In 1893 he returned to his former 
 home, where lie remained until February, 
 1894, wiien he came to Jefferson and embarked 
 in the neu'spa|ier business. 
 
 Tiie place then supi)orted two newspajiers, 
 the Conrur and the Schoharie County Clirou- 
 itlc. The former, which was an old estab- 
 lished journal, was then edited by George M. 
 Proper, and the latter, fnuntled in 1891 by 
 Albert C. Mayham and Charles H. Shutts, 
 was the property of Mr. .Shutts, who has pur- 
 chased Mr. Mayham's interest in the estab- 
 lishment. Mr. Frazee purchased both of these 
 newspaper plants, and, merging the Chronicle 
 into the Conriii; enlarged the same. His ca- 
 reer as a newspaper editor has been a success- 
 ful one. He receives the hearty support of 
 the business men of Jefferson, and a good pat- 
 ronage from the people at large. He is 
 not only a jileasing writer, but a practical 
 printer as well, having learned the mechani- 
 cal as well as tJie editorial part of newspaper 
 work, so that he is familiar with all the de- 
 tails of tiie business. He owns one of the 
 best equipped country offices in the State. 
 
 On July 16, 1895, Mr. P'razee assumed 
 matrimonial responsibilities, being united in 
 marriage with Miss Nellie Hubbell, a highly 
 esteemed young lady of Ji-ffcrson, dau:;htcr of 
 C. H. ilubi)cll. 
 
 Mr. P'razee is a m.ember and an officer of 
 
 Working Lodge, No. 554, P~. & A. M., and 
 also a church member, belonging to the Dutch 
 Reformed church at his former home. South 
 Gilboa. In the sjiring of 1899 Mr. P" razee 
 was elected Town Clerk of Jefferson for two 
 years by a handsome majority. He is much 
 interested in the welfare and development of 
 his town, is a lo\'al Republican in politics, 
 and an artlent worker for his party. He pos- 
 sesses a genial disposition, is wide-awak<-' and 
 enterprising, and never can do too much for a 
 friend. 
 
 'J^ACOJi L. KILTS, an energetic farmer 
 of Carlisle, N.Y., was born in this 
 town, September 2, 1846, son of Will- 
 iam and Julia A. (Empie) Kilts. He repre- 
 sents the fourth generation of his family in 
 America, being a great-grandson of Peter 
 Kilts, who came from Germany, and settled 
 on a farm in Stone Arabia, now the town of 
 Palatine, Montgomery County, N.Y. 
 
 P'our of the sons of Peter Kilts located in 
 Sharon, one of the number being John, the 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 John Kilts s]K'nt the active period ot his life 
 in Sharon, and died at the age of eighty-seven 
 years. He marrieil a Miss Smith, and his 
 children were: William; Penjamin; Conrad; 
 George; Kate, who rviarried Solomon PImpie; 
 Margaret, who married David P2mpie; Susan, 
 who married (lideon ]Cni[)ie; Sophia, who 
 married P)anicl .Siiafer; and Magdalene, who 
 married lui Pointer. Of tiiese the survivors 
 are: Margaret, Susan, and .Sophia. All of 
 
CHARLES DICKINSON. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 83 
 
 the grandfather's sons reared families. They 
 were members of the Lutheran church. 
 
 William Kilts, the father above named, 
 was reared and educated in Sharon, his native 
 town. He assisted in carrying on the home 
 farm until after his marriage, when he moved 
 to Carlisle and settled upon a farm of one 
 hundred acres, known as the Hilsinger place, 
 which is now owned by his son, Jacob L. He 
 engaged in general farming and stocli-raising, 
 made a specialty of hay and grain, and realized 
 good financial returns as the result of his in- 
 dustry. Politically, he acted with the Demo- 
 cratic party. P"or years he was one of the 
 main pillars of the Lutheran church, serving 
 as Deacon and Elder, and frequently as a del- 
 egate to the Synod. He was well informed, 
 especially upon subjects relating to religion. 
 William Kilts died November 20, 1S90, aged 
 seventy-five years. Julia A. Empie Kilts, his 
 wife, was a daughter of Adam Empie. They 
 were the parents of ten children, three of 
 whom are living, namely: Jacob L., the sub- 
 ject of this sketch ; Wesley H.; and Cynthia 
 A., wife of Charles J. Warner. The mother 
 died in i88j. 
 
 Jacob L. Kilts passed his boyhood and 
 youth in attending the district school and 
 assisting upon the home farm. When a 
 young man he managed the property jointly 
 with his brother Wesley, but later succeeded 
 to its ownership. He has seventy acres under 
 cultivation. Aside from producing hay and 
 grain, he raises cattle and sheep, and has ac- 
 quired a wide reputation as a stock dealer. 
 He also deals largely in clover seeds, produc- 
 
 ing an original variety which is cleansed by 
 machinery, and whose superiority makes it 
 eagerly sought for by the neighboring farmers. 
 
 Mr. Kilts married Melvina Shafer, daugh- 
 ter of Sylvester Shafer, and has four children ; 
 namely, Beardsley W. , Bertha E., Avis M., 
 and Aurie J. 
 
 In politics Mr. Kilts is an earnest sup- 
 porter of the Democratic party. He has fre- 
 quently been solicited to accept nominations 
 to town offices and to serve upon committees, 
 but has always declined. He is a Deacon of 
 the Lutheran church, is also a class leader, 
 and prominenty identified with the Sunday- 
 school. 
 
 HARLES DICKINSON, M.D., who 
 
 was for man)- years the leading 
 physician in Seward valley, Scho- 
 harie County, was born in Henrietta, Monroe 
 County, N. Y., on May 31, 1833, son of 
 Lyman and Harriet A. (Webster) Dickinson. 
 He is a descendant of early colonists of New 
 England. 
 
 The first ancestor of this branch of the 
 Dickinson family in America came from 
 England, about 1640, and settled in the 
 Connecticut valley. Dr. Dickinson's grand- 
 father, James Dickinson, was born in Connect- 
 icut. He came to this State shortly after the 
 Revolution and settled in Canaan, Columbia 
 County. Several years later he remmcd to a 
 farm in Roseboom, Otsego County, and there 
 remained until his death, at the age of 
 seventy-seven. 
 
84 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Lyman Dickinson, son of James, was born 
 in Canaan and one of a family of seven chil- 
 dren. He li\ed with his |)arents until he was 
 twenty-one years of age, when he went to 
 Henrietta, where he engaged in mechanical 
 work for a number of years, at the same 
 time doing some farming. He then removed 
 to Northern Indiana, but ten }ear.s later re- 
 turned to Roseboom. Some years afterward 
 he moved to Tioga valley, and, purchasing a 
 farm, continued to reside there until his death, 
 at the age of eighty-eight. He attended the 
 Presbyterian church. His wife was the daugh- 
 ter of Aaron Webster, and was born in Canaan, 
 N. Y. She was of the seventh generation from 
 the first representative of this branch of the 
 Webster family in America. One of her an- 
 cestors, John Webster, who settled in Hart- 
 ford about 1636, was the fifth Governor of 
 Connecticut, holding the office one year, 
 1656-57. He afterward remo\ed to Hadley, 
 Mass. Ik-r grandfather was one of the fa- 
 vorite scouts of General Putnam during tlie 
 war of the Revolution. Her father, who was 
 born in Connecticut, removed to Canaan and 
 later to Roseboom. His first wife died at the 
 age of twenty-six, leaving only one child, 
 Charles, now Dr. Dickinson. She was a 
 birthright Quaker. His second wife, whose 
 maiden name was Sarah Sutphen, had five 
 children, two of whom arc li\ing, b)' name 
 Orville and L)nian 1). She lived to the age 
 of eighty. 
 
 Charles Dickinson in his early years at- 
 tended the common schools and later the 
 academy at Cherry Valley. He began the 
 
 stud)' of medicine with Dr. James H. Sutphen, 
 of Seward, and subsequently took three courses 
 of lectures at the Albany Medical College, 
 from which he was graduated in i860. Return- 
 ing then to Seward, he began the practice of 
 his profession, arid remained until 1869, when 
 he removed to Binghamton. At the end of a 
 year and a half he came back to Seward, and has 
 since made this the scene of his prf)fessional 
 labors. He has now been longer in practice 
 than any other physician in this section of the 
 county. Dr. Dickinson is energetic and ]ier- 
 sevcring in whatever he undertakes, and is 
 able as a business man as well as skilful in 
 his profession. During earh' and mitldlc life 
 he had a large practice, and covered a wide 
 circle in his ministrations; but in later years 
 he has retired to a more limited field. An un- 
 tiring student through all his careei', he has 
 given attention, not sim])ly to medical subjects, 
 but to science and liteiature in general. He 
 has now and then lectured on some scientific 
 or literary subject; and during the summer of 
 1896, while he was making the tour of Kurope 
 for pleasure and study, he wrote, by recpiest, a 
 number of letters on his travels for the Cobles- 
 kill Index. 
 
 The Doctor has lived for twenty-.se\en years 
 in his present house. He was married in 
 1859 to Celia M. France, daughter of Gilbert 
 G. France and one of a household group of 
 seven children. Her father was a well-known 
 farmer of this region, where the family has 
 been settled ever since the Rex'olution. Mrs. 
 Dickinson was a member of the Methodist 
 church. She died at the age of thirty-eight, 
 
^^^MiGG^nKTH^ 
 
 AL REVIEW 
 
 8S 
 
 leaviiii^- three childiteii ; namely, Everett M. , 
 Mehille U., and Hame A. All of these are 
 graduates of Cobleskill\Academy. Both sons 
 are Knights Templar. Eyerett M. Dickinson 
 has been for the last seven years a jeweller in 
 North Adams, Mass., where he conducts a large 
 business. He married Laura Mann, who died 
 in 1894, and by whom he had two children — 
 Angle and K\erett. In 1895 he married 
 Louise Tower Wallace. She had one child — 
 Gertrude Wallace. Melville D. Dickinson 
 studied medicine with his father, and was 
 graduated at Alban\' in 1890. He was also 
 for two years a student at Cornell Univer- 
 sity. He is now assistant surgeon of the Troy 
 Hospital, and is physician to St. Vincent 
 Orphan Asylum. He married Emma Cole, 
 and has one child, Celia. Hattie Dickinson 
 is the wife of Clarence H. Shafer, of Cobles- 
 kill. Mr. Shafer is engaged in the jewelry 
 business. 
 
 Dr. Dickinson is a memljer of the Schoharie 
 County Medical Society, has been its presi- 
 dent, and has served as delegate to the State 
 society. He has written and read before the 
 society papers on a variety of medical subjects. 
 Politically, the Doctor is a Democrat, and he 
 has held a number of important offices in the 
 town. As Justice of the Peace he has 
 done a large amount of imjiortant business, 
 and as railroad commissioner he has rendered 
 valuable service. He was formerly a Free 
 Mason at Cobleskill. For many years he has 
 been a leading member of the Methodist 
 church and for over thirty-five years a Sunday- 
 school teacher. 
 
 JSAAC SHOWERS, a retired civil engi- 
 neer, was born in Hunter, August 27, 
 1827, son of Japhet and Sylvia (Putts) 
 Showers. His first American ancestor was 
 an emigrant from Hollanil, who settled in New 
 Jersey, where he spent the rest of his life, and 
 was a farmer. The ne.xt in line, John 
 Showers, probably came to America with his 
 father. After residing in New Jersey for a 
 time he settled on a farm in Albany, N.Y. , 
 where he died at an advanced age. Michael 
 Showers, son of John and grandfather of Isaac, 
 was a native of Albany. He worked on a farm 
 there until reaching his majority, when he 
 came to Great Flats (now Lexington) and 
 built a grist-mill, which he conducted a few- 
 years. He then took up a large tract of moun- 
 tain land in what is now Jewett, and resided 
 there with his famil)'. He died in 1819, aged 
 forty-nine years, lea\-ing a widow ant! ten chil- 
 dren. His widow, who again married, dietl at 
 the age of fifty-three years. 
 
 Japhet Showers, above named, was hnrn in 
 a log house on the home farm in Jewett, seven 
 miles below where his son Isaac now lives, and 
 always resided in that locality. He was a 
 farmer, and fairly successful. In jjolitics he 
 was a Democrat, and held some of the town 
 offices. He died at the age of sevent)-. His 
 wife, Syh'ia, was a daughter of Isaac Putts, a 
 well-to-do farmer of I^e.xington. Her father 
 was twice married. Pv his first wife he had 
 fourteen children; and by his second wife, for- 
 merly Mrs. Ruby Bellows, of Dover, N.J., 
 widow with four children, he was the father of 
 seven children. Isaac Putts and his second 
 
86 
 
 lUOCRAPIIUAI. RF.VIEW 
 
 wife both lived to be about ninety-two years 
 old. Japhet and S\dvia (Butts) Showers had 
 a family of eleven children, of whom four are 
 living — Michael, Isaac, Louisa, and Caroline. 
 Michael is married, and resides on an adjoin- 
 ing farm, Louisa married ]5easley Teasler, 
 and Caroline is the wife of George Renn. The 
 mother dietl at the age of sevent)--onc. .She 
 w-as a Methotlist in her religious belief. 
 
 Isaac Showers at the age of eight years went 
 to live at the home of a neighbor, with whom 
 he remained five years, and he spent another 
 year upon a farm in the vicinity. At the age 
 of si.Nteen he went to Jewctt, and secured em- 
 plovment for si.\ niontlis at seven dollars per 
 month. He next worked in a saw-mill, where 
 he received one hundred and twenty dollars a 
 year for ten years, and saved seven hundred 
 dollars of his earnings. After his marriage he 
 located nil a farm adjuining his present home, 
 whii'h is abciut one anil a half miles from the 
 village of Tannersville, on the road to Jewett, 
 first purchasing one hundred and twelve acres 
 and later buying more lantl. He remained 
 there until iSiji, and from 1846 to 1879 held 
 the agency for the Hardingburgh Land Grant, 
 Lot 25, consisting of twentj'-eight thousand 
 acres, surveying and selling about twenty-one 
 thousand acres during that time. In 1879 he 
 purchased seven thousand acres lying in Ulster 
 and Greene Counties, which he sur\-e\ed and 
 laid out in faims. It was in a [loor contlition 
 at the time he took i)ossession, but he imjiroved 
 it to such an extent as to make it more desir- 
 able, and now besides a large number of 
 farms the district contains four parks — Santa 
 
 Cruz, Tw'ilight, Sunset, and l{lka — compris- 
 ing in all twelve hundred acres. In 1S57 he 
 adoptetl the profession of civil engineering, 
 and for the past forty years he has surveyed 
 not only all the Hardingburgh patent, but a 
 great many farms throughout this region. He 
 has surveyed also land near the Hudson River 
 in LUster Comity, and has completed much 
 work for the great (piarries in that localit}'. 
 He has also been called upon in many law- 
 suits as an expert; and, although in 1895 he 
 was compelled on account of ill health to relin- 
 quish active work of this kind, his advice is 
 still sought uiion man)' im[ioitant matters. In 
 1890 he sold the farm of two lunuhecl and 
 sixty-six acres adjoining his home jjroperty. 
 He erected a new dwelling-house and other 
 buildings upon his present farm, which con- 
 tains seventy acres, usetl principal 1\- for dairy 
 purposes. lie also owns three other farms and 
 outhing land, amounting in all to one thou- 
 sand acres, and is one of the largest resiiK'nt 
 land-owners in the town. 
 
 In 1854 Mr Showers was united in marriage 
 with Merilla Loomis, daughter of Alvin J. 
 and Harriet (Palmer) Loomis, of Windham. 
 Her father, who was a butcher in that town, 
 died at an advanced age; and her mother, who 
 was a native of Ashland, died at the age of 
 forty-nine. Mr. and Mrs. Loomis had eight 
 children, of whom fi\e are living; namely, 
 Addison, Merilla, Chloe, Lovisa, and Julia. 
 Merilla is now Mrs. Showers, Chloe married 
 Jonathan Traphagen, Lovisa is the wife of 
 William Young, and Julia married George 
 Goodrich. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Showers have 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 87 
 
 had eight children. The four now living are: 
 Cyrus, Emma, Henry W., and George H. 
 Shyvvers. Cyrus is a civil engineer. A 
 sketch of him appears elsewhere in the Re- 
 view. I-imma married lulward Osborn, a 
 blacksmith in California, and has five chil- 
 dren. Henry \V. is attending the Albany 
 Law Scht)ol, and George Harding Showers is 
 a student at the Polytechnic Institute, Troy. 
 The others were: Jennie, who married Ste- 
 phen Viiiing, and died in California, leaving 
 two daughters — Bertha and Mingie; Itlmer, 
 who died at fourteen; Isaac, Jr., who died 
 young; and Irving, who died at the age of four 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Showers is a Republican in politics, but 
 has declined to serve in office. He was in 
 1848 a member of the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows. He has been a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church for fifty-five years, 
 a class leader forty-three years, and has also 
 been connected with the Sunday-school as 
 teacher and superintendent. He assisted in 
 building the churches at Tannersville and Jew- 
 ett, and contributes liberally toward the sup- 
 port of both. 
 
 ILLIAM KOHRING, of Glenville, 
 e.\-chairman of the Board of Super- 
 visors, was born upon the farm where he now 
 resides, September 3, 1862, son of August and 
 Elizabeth (Martin) Kohring. The parents, 
 who were natives of Germany, came to Glen- 
 ville about the year 1858, and settled upon a 
 farm. August Kohring was a sturd)' and in- 
 
 dustrious man, jjossessing the keen intelli- 
 gence and ambition to advance which is charac- 
 teristic of his race; and he was respected as 
 a worthy, upright, and progressive citizen. 
 When naturalized he embraced the principles 
 of the Democratic party, but withdrew his 
 allegiance on account of the slavery question, 
 and thenceforward acted with the Republicans. 
 In his religious belief he was a Methodist. 
 August Kohring died July 7, 1897. His wife 
 is still living. They reared two sons, namely: 
 William, the subject of this .sketch; and 
 George, who died in P^bruary, 1889, aged 
 twenty-seven years. 
 
 William Kohring began his education in the 
 common schools and completed his studies with 
 a two years' course at a commercial college in 
 Schenectady. He has made agriculture his 
 chief occupation, and is now the owner of the 
 home farm of about fifty acres. He carries on 
 general farming in an able and progressive 
 manner, keeps some fine Jersey cattle, and is 
 regarded as one of the leading farmers in this 
 locality. In politics he is a Republican, and 
 since reaching his majority he has taken a 
 lively interest in local public affairs. He has 
 served as a Justice of the Peace four years, and 
 was Sujjervisor for the years 1896-97, being 
 chairman of the board the last year. 
 
 On March 18, 1891, Mr. Kohring was 
 united in marriage with Lillie Muller, who 
 was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., daughter of Ded- 
 rich and Sophia Muller. Mrs. Kohring is 
 the mother of one daughter, Lillie E., who 
 was born December 5, 1S92. 
 
 Mr. Kohring is well informed upon all the 
 
88 
 
 BIOGRAI'lllCAL REVIEW 
 
 important topics of the- day, and his jniblic 
 services were characterized by an intelligent 
 appreciation of the people's needs. He is a 
 Master Mason, and belongs to St. George 
 Lodge, No. 6, F. & A. M., of Schenectady. 
 He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 M 
 
 URYEA BEEKMAN, president of 
 the First National Bank of Middle- 
 burg, Schoharie County, N.Y., was 
 born at Seward, this county, August 9, 1840, 
 son of Nicholas and Alida (Becker) Beekman. 
 Of Dutch ancestry on the paternal side and 
 German on his mother's, he is a representative 
 of one of the oldest and most notable families 
 in the county. 
 
 The first progenitor of the l?eekman family 
 in this country was John lieekman, an early 
 settler in Albany, N.\'. , who later removed to 
 a farm in the Mohawk valley. William, the 
 next in line of descent, born in 1767, was the 
 first Judge of Schoharie County, which ])osition 
 he held for thirty years. When a boy he was 
 clerk to Colonel Marius Willet. He was ap- 
 pointed County Judge by Governor George 
 Clinton, and held that office until 1833. In 
 the yeans 1798, 1800, 1801, and 1802 he repre- 
 sented his district in the State Senate. He 
 was married July 18, 1788, to Joanna Low, 
 daughter of Nicholas Low, and he afterward re- 
 moved to Sharon, this county. His death took 
 ]ilace at Sharon on N'ovember 26, 1845, in the 
 house which he liail built in 1802-4, ant! 
 which is still standing. 
 
 Nicholas Beekman, son of Judge Beekman 
 
 and father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 born at .Sharon, N. V., November 27, 1790. 
 He became a prominent citizen of the town of 
 Middeburg, where for a long |)erio(l he was 
 engaged in farming and hop-growing, being 
 one of the first hop-growers in the .Schoharie 
 valley. He served as Supersisor antl in other 
 offices, and represented the county in the State 
 legislature of 1841. His marriage, which oc- 
 curred June 16, 181 I, united him with Alida, 
 daughter of Ua\id Ikcker, antl their wedded 
 life extended through a ])eriod of <iver si.xty 
 years. He survivetl his wife b\- two years and 
 four days, dying January 13, 1874. Of tlieir 
 twelve children, si.x survived them. 
 
 Duryea Beekman came to Middleburg with 
 his jiarents when a boy. His education was 
 obtained in the schools of this town. .Since 
 early manliood his cai)acity has been tlemon- 
 strated in various business enterprises, and he 
 now holds a high position in the business com- 
 munity. Elected president of the First Na- 
 tional Bank of Middleburg at the time of its 
 organization in iSSo, he still remains in office. 
 The hank is regarded as one of the best in this 
 part of the State, and its reputation is due in 
 chief measure to its excellent management. 
 Mr. Beekman was for man\ years secretary and 
 is now \ice-president of the Middleburg & 
 Schoharie Railroad. He is a director of the 
 Davenport, i\Iiddleburg & Durham Railroad 
 Company and a director of the Merchants' and 
 F'armers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 
 politics a Democrat, he served in the legisla- 
 ture of 1879, having been elected by a majority 
 of one thousand li\e lumdred and si.x \otes; 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 89 
 
 and he has frequently represented his party in 
 State and other conventions. He is a member 
 of Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. M. 
 
 On October ig, 1859, Mr. Beekman married 
 Elizabeth Richtniyer, a daughter of Peter and 
 Elizabeth Richtmyer. Mrs. Beekman's pater- 
 nal grandfather, Captain George Richtmyer, a 
 native of Germany, came to America in 1745, 
 antl settled at Hartman's Dorf, in the town of 
 Middleburg. Captain Richtmyer was subse- 
 quently an officer in the American army during 
 the Revolutionary War. He fought at Bemis 
 Heights, and served with distinction in every 
 engagement that occurred in the Schoharie 
 valley. I\h". and Mrs. Beekman have been the 
 parents of three children, namely: Charles, 
 who died in infancy; Dow, of whom a separate 
 sketch appears in this volume ; and William G. 
 
 M 
 
 OW BEEKMAN, of Middleburg, 
 ^ m one of the leading lawyers and busi- 
 ness men of Schoharie County, was 
 born in this town, February 8, 1862, son of 
 Duryea and Elizabeth (Richtmyer) Beekman. 
 He comes of an old Schoharie County family, 
 and a fuller account of his ancestors may be 
 found in connection with the sketch of his 
 father, Duryea Beekman, on the preceding 
 page of this volume. 
 
 After the usual common -school course Dow 
 Beekman prepared for college at Hartwick 
 Seminary, Otsego County. He then entered 
 Union College, at which he was graduated in 
 1884, having taken four of the most important 
 prizes in the course. From September, 18S4, 
 
 until June, 1886, he was professor of mathe- 
 matics at Union Classical Institute, Schenec- 
 tady, N.Y. , and during the same period he de- 
 voted his spare time to the study of law in the 
 office of Judge Samuel W. Jackson, of that city. 
 In September, 1886, he was admitted to the 
 bar at Saratoga, and immediately began the 
 practice of his profession in Middleburg. 
 Since then he has built up what is probably 
 the largest law business in this part of the 
 county. In 1889 he was elected District At- 
 torney of Schoharie County, receiving a major- 
 ity of one thousand eight hundred votes, and 
 during his term of office he never presented an 
 indictment that was set aside or quashed. He 
 has been attorney and counsel in many impor- 
 tant cases, is attorney for the Middleburg & 
 Schoharie Railroad Company, for the Daven- 
 port, Middleburg & Durham Railroad, and 
 also for the corporation of the \'illage of 
 Middleburg. He is the possessor of an un- 
 usually extensive library. 
 
 Mr. Beekman is also a man of practical busi- 
 ness ability. He is a director of the Middle- 
 burg & Schoharie Railroad Company, attorney 
 and treasurer of the Merchants' and Farmers' 
 Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and a director 
 and secretary of the Middleburg Telephone 
 Exchange ComiDany. A Democrat in politics, 
 he is secretary of the Democratic County Com- 
 mittee, and has delivered many addresses in 
 different parts of the State in every Presiden- 
 tial campaign since he became a voter, ha\'ing 
 on several occasions been sent out by the 
 Democratic State Committee. He has also 
 delivered addresses on subjects foreign to poll- 
 
9° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 tics, and liis ability as a speaker has been fre- 
 quently recognized by the press. 
 
 Mr. Bcekman has been Master of Middle- 
 burg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. I\L, for four 
 years. In 1896 he served as District Dejjuty 
 Grand Master of the Kleventh IMasonic Dis- 
 trict, which comprises Delaware, Schoharie, 
 and Greene Counties. He is now District Dep- 
 uty Grand Master of the Eighteenth District, 
 comprising Schoharie and Otsego Counties. 
 He is a member of John L. Lewis Chapter, 
 R. A. M. He has also been District Deputy 
 Grand Sachem of the Improved Order of Red 
 Men, and belongs to the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows. 
 
 On June 9, 1S91, Mr. Heekman married 
 Miss Laura Frisbie, daughter of Grandison N. 
 Frisbie, of Middleburg. Tw(j children ha\c 
 blessed their union — Marjorie Elizabeth and 
 Douw Frisbie. 
 
 IIOMAS W. JERALDS, a retired busi- 
 Q j I ness man and wealth)- resident of Ash- 
 land, was born in Waterbury, Conn., August 
 28, 1839, son of Thomas and Mary (Brown) 
 Jeralds. Both his father and his paternal 
 grandfather, whose given name was Ransom, 
 were natives of Bethany, Conn. Ransom 
 Jeralds, hnwever, removetl from that town to 
 Wallingford, same .State, where he carried on 
 a farm for the rest of his active period, his 
 death (jccurring at the age of seventy-nine 
 years. 
 
 When a young man Thcimas Jeralds became 
 a Methoilist minister, and was attached to the 
 
 New York East Conference for about twenty 
 years. He was subsequently engaged in tiie 
 silverware business at Meriden, Conn., until 
 his retirement. He died at the age of forty- 
 seven years. His first wife, Mary, who was 
 a native of Burlington, Conn., died in early 
 womanhood, leaving two children, namely: 
 Ellen M., who married Henry Wooding, and is 
 no longer living; and Thomas W. , the subject 
 of this sketch. h'or his second wife he mar- 
 ried Betse}' Parker, a sister of Charles Parker, 
 a ])rominent manufacturer of Meriden and 
 the first Mayor of that cit}'. Of this union 
 there were three children, two of whom 
 are living, namely: Sarah R.. who married 
 John Ten Eyck ; and Mar\- ,\., who married a 
 Mr. Morgan, of Meriden, Ci n. Mrs. Betsey 
 P. Jeralds is still living, and is now ninety-two 
 years olil. 
 
 Thomas W. Jeralds went from the Walling- 
 ford High School to the academy in Meriden, 
 and his studies were completed at the Ashland 
 Collegiate Institute. P.ntering mercantile 
 business in this town, he continiicil it in Chesh- 
 ire and still later in Wallingford, where he 
 kept a general store for some time. From 
 Wallingford he removed to Ashland, N.Y., 
 where he engaged in active business until his 
 retirement in 1H90, and where he still makes 
 his home. He has business interests in \-ari- 
 ous places, and his time is now devoted to the 
 care of his investments and to the management 
 of his fine estate in this town. This \aluable 
 property, which is known as Crescent Lawn, 
 consists of one hundred and fift\-five acres of 
 desirably located laud, used chieHy for dairy 
 
T. \V. JKRALIJ5. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 93 
 
 purposes and the cultivation of small fruits, 
 anil containing two substantial residences ad- 
 joining each other. 
 
 In i860 Mr. Jeralds was joined in marriage 
 with Frances A. Tuttle, a native of Ashland, 
 daughter of Albert and Aurelia Tuttle. Al- 
 bert Tuttle was a well-to-tlo merchant and 
 speculator. He figured consj)icu()usly in the 
 public affairs of this town, and held all uf the 
 important local offices. He also served as 
 Postmaster, and while a member of the Assem- 
 bl_\- he introduced the act incorporating the 
 town of Ashland. He was the father of five 
 children by his first union, and by a second 
 marriage he had two children, one of whom 
 became Mrs. Jeralds. Mi's. Jeralds died Jan- 
 uary 9, 1898, aged fifty-eight years. She was 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
 and a lovely Christian lady. She left three 
 children; namely, Carolines., Hattie A., 
 and John T. Caroline married Lorenzo R. 
 Cook, of the White Sewing Machine Com- 
 pany, and proprietor of a large diy-goods store 
 at Wallingfoi-d, Conn. Hattie A. married 
 Charles C. Carroll, a jeweller of Wallingford, 
 and her children are: ]-!arbaraJ., Frances W., 
 and Doris J. John T. , who is residing in 
 East Haven, Conn., married ]5erta L. W'hit- 
 lesey, of East Haven. 
 
 In politics Mr. Jeralds is a Republican. 
 He held the appointment of Postmaster both in 
 Cheshire and Yalesville, and .scr\ed with abil- 
 ity as Supervisor in Ashland for the years 
 1891-92. Plis interest in the welfare of Ash- 
 land began some forty years ago, when he first 
 engaged in business; and during the period of 
 
 his residence elsewhere his attachment to the 
 place WMS unabatcil. He is a member of and 
 a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 but has contributed liberally to the different 
 churches. He takes a lively interest in Sun- 
 day-school work, and rendered valuable aid in 
 securing and furnishing the rooms of the Young 
 Men's Christian Association. Mr. Jeralds is 
 an Odd F"ellow, and formerly belonged to the 
 Meriden Centre Lodge, Mcriden, Conn. 
 
 s,Wfi> lISS JANE VAN LOAN, one of 
 the most prominent and highl_\- le- 
 spccted ladies of Catskill, was 
 born in this place, her parents being William 
 W. and Sally (Du Bois) Van Loan. 
 
 Her gi-andfather. Captain Isaac Van Loan, 
 was in his time the leading man of the town, 
 and widely known throughout all this section of 
 the county. He had lai'ge shipping intei'ests, 
 and was the owner of several sloops which ran 
 on the river. When young he had learned the 
 mason's trade, and always as long as he'lived 
 he took a deep interest in the welfare of me- 
 chanics, and aided them in every possible way. 
 Nor was his helpfulness extended to this class 
 alone. Every person deserving of sympathy 
 was sure to find in Captain Van Loan's warm 
 heart, which overflowed with kindness to all 
 mankind, a fountain of considation, and every 
 worthy cause found in him an imfailing cham- 
 pion. A man of fervid religious aspirations, 
 in the churcii he was a pillar of strength. He 
 was a member of .St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 
 and many years one of its vestrymen. He 
 
!>» 
 
 -^^.RAFHICAL KEVIEW 
 
 UfiK a pr 
 
 iij I>jCir. 
 
 ad. 
 
 "xr fd the 
 
 He i«a<( '/j»c ol those : 
 
 'jf gooJ chlzc 
 
 the t/zM-rs a» K'jad >la5i^t£r, and tor a * 
 
 ty- His death occarr.; 
 
 H^rmaiden - \yr^.\. 
 
 r <(f ytat^me L 
 I'^i^ the ae Die* 
 
 live*? 
 
 of the fanK/us Xcw V y of tfci 
 
 Captain Isaac and Jane i\i%e%) Van I>jar. 
 
 A 
 
 :« I^'jan 
 
 village, '- until i - 
 
 when be S'jltJ New York City. 
 
 There he ofMmed a general merchandise store 
 Ferry Station now st^ 
 
 the ^rfvl 'rf th^ rj'v, M•^•= V-?*? T.'w?* r^-mem- 
 
 the cholera epidemic m Nev' 
 
 we Mr. 
 
 ly. 
 
 ♦***Y ; Mr, Van 
 
 came back to his natire place and 
 
 ':;nt into mercanr in the store 
 
 Mr. Fox ntrib i>. Jie &«aa] consider- 
 
 -' ■ ' - - t- - --.^'s 
 
 ... . .. . . .; for 
 
 "ii's, having the jj .-re Mr. 
 
 -Kcnr \ttaXtd. I : t the age of 
 
 He and bis vife were members 
 
 m: j> Chorcbu Mrs. Van Loan was 
 
 - --- - - ^ - . ' •' . rjpe 
 
 r>f 
 
 * Da Bois, , vng 
 
 '. with the exception of the 
 
 ; time he serred in the Cor. during 
 
 . Of ♦ ^u o(^a to Will- 
 
 i(Du li'. -, ;-. Ijaa, f/aly two 
 
 , ,.-.: years. Thau: were Jane and 
 
 kache], who died in 5*95, at the 
 
 venty-two, was the f John 
 
 i^reasted, who was prominently identified with 
 
 -J Works and with the Morgan 
 
 f Peter 
 
 - - -g resi- 
 
 town. John Breasted had an 
 
 • office in Xew Vork f'jr Vime years, but later 
 
 I retomed to Catskill, and ir. .y with 
 
 •'Tcrs boilt the VtftsptcX Park Hoie., He was 
 
 . .... -^, ... died in 
 
 ' 1884. He gave a bell for ik. Lake's Church. 
 
 The Van Lojn family has been identified 
 
 I with St. Luke's Church longer than any other 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 05 
 
 family now living, and Miss Van L'*an has re- 
 cently shown her appreciation of the signifi- 
 cance of this fact, as well as her affectionate 
 veneration for her grandfather and sister, by 
 the gift of a beautiful spire and a costly altar 
 rail for the new church. This building is said 
 to be the handsomest on the Hudson, and the 
 spire, which has been erected at a cost of fif- 
 teen hundred dollars, is a masterpiece of design 
 and construction, and greatly admired. It can 
 be seen twenty miles down the Hudsson, 
 towering up into the blue. In it is hung the 
 bell given by Mr. Breasted. The altar rail, 
 which is of s(A\d brass, is e.vquisitely en- 
 graved, and will Ije inscribed through its en- 
 tire length on the front and back. On one 
 side the inscription will be in memory of Mrs. 
 Breasted, and on the other in memory of Cap- 
 tain Isaac Van Loan. It is to be made and put 
 in at ;• f'-» ' f '^•'-•'- hundred and fifty dollars. 
 
 H.LIAM .S. HAMLIN, Postmaster, 
 and general merchant, Glcnville,' 
 .Schenectady County, N. Y., was bom in this 
 town, February 28, 1855, son of Anson B. and 
 Abigail (Cstrom) Hamlin. The father was 
 bom in Connecticut, September 7, 1807, and 
 the m<rther was bom in Glcnville, April i, 
 1811. 
 
 Ansftn B. Hamlin followed the ..rj.-. .-, 
 trade in his early days; and, coming to Glcn- 
 ville when still a young min, he kept a hot:. 
 here for some time. He subsequently carried* 
 on a farm for a number of years, and, returning^ 
 
 here in 1S67, he was engaged in mercantilc 
 business until selling out to his .son in 1882. 
 His la-st years were spent in retirement, and he 
 died May ig, 1895. He was a man of good 
 business ability and upright character, and he 
 gained the good will of all with whom he had 
 dealings. In politics he was a Republican. 
 His wife, whose maiden name was Abigail Os- 
 trom, became the mother of ten children, five 
 of whom are living, namely: David H. ; Jew- 
 ett C. ; Chri.stopher ; William .S., the subject 
 of this sketch; and Clarissa. The others 
 were: Lyman G., Oliver, Heman, Rachel A., 
 and Betsey. M- /^ '•'"::' O Hamlin died in 
 1889. 
 
 William S. Hamlin after attending the com- 
 mon schools of Glcnville completed his studies 
 with a commercial course at a business college 
 in Troy. Beginning when twelve years old to 
 make himself useful as an a.ssistant to his 
 father, he later gave his whole time to the 
 business in the capacity of a clerk, and con- 
 tinued as such until becoming its proprietor. 
 He conducts the oldest-establi.shed general 
 store in this part of the town, keeps a large 
 and varied stock, including agricultural imple- 
 ments, feed, fertilizers, and so forth, and has a 
 numerous patronage. 
 
 On November 23, 1882, Mr. Hamlin was 
 united in marriage with Anna Bell, a native of 
 West Charlton, Saratoga County, daughter of 
 George Bell. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Hamlin is a Republican. 
 1 fc served with ability as Town Clerk one year, 
 and is giving excellent .satisfaction as Po.st- 
 master. He has a wide circle of friends and 
 
96 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 acquaintances who a])]ircciatc his many sterling 
 qualities, and he is a member of Touareuna 
 Lodge; No. 35,- I. O. O. L. 
 
 ^yi':XRV VAX DR1-:S1':R, a prominent 
 ilairymnn and poultr\' raiser of Coble- 
 skill, N.Y., pro]irietor of Eureka 
 Stock ami Ponltry Farm, was born September 
 4, 1839, in SL-hoharie, Schoharie County, a 
 son of John I. and Anna (Warner) Van 
 Dreser. On the ])atern;il side he comes of 
 substantial iJuteh ancestr\-. His grandfnther, 
 the Rev. Henry \'an Dreser, a Presb)terian 
 minister, emigrated from Holland to New- 
 York, and for se\-enteen _\ears thereafter 
 preached in Schenectad}'. He married Anna 
 Fergueson, a fair Scotch maiden, who b(ii"e 
 him thirteen chililren. 
 
 John I. \'an Dreser spent a large part of his 
 early life in .Schohaiie, where for seven years 
 he kept a li\er_\' stable. In 1846 he removed 
 to Cobleskill, and, bu3ing a large farm, was 
 here engaged in agricultural ]iursuits for a 
 nnmlu'r of years. When well ad\'anced in age 
 and unable longer to care for his propert}', he 
 scdd his estate, and from that time until his 
 death, at the venerable age uf eighty-seven 
 yeais, made his home with his sons, J. W. and 
 Henry. He was very successful as a farmer, 
 and (|uite acti\'e in jjidilic life. He was a reg- 
 ular attendant at the Lutheran church, which 
 his wife joined when a gill of si.xteen. Her 
 maiden name was Anna Warner. She was 
 horn in Warners\il le, a daughter of Jacf)b 
 Warner, a well known farmei' and the first 
 
 dair\'man in Schoharie County. The first 
 summer that Mi' Warner made a specialt)' of 
 this particular branch of industry his herd of 
 twenty cows produced a ton of butter, which 
 he sold in the city of New York, whither he 
 drove with a team. This transaction attracted 
 such attention that for many years after he was 
 known far and wide as "Putter Jake." Of 
 the seven children born to John I. and Anna 
 (Warner) Van Dreser, si.\ grew to maturity, 
 namely : Sarah, the widow of the late Peter 
 Shaffer; Cathering, deceased; Jacob W. ; 
 Henry, the s])ecial subject of this sketch; 
 Mar)' J., wife of Clinton Tillepaugh; I'anma, 
 wife of John V. I'ace ; and Almira, wife of 
 Adam V. Karkar. The nuither died at the ad- 
 vanced age of fourscore and four )'ears. 
 
 Hem}- \'an Dreser was reared on the home 
 farm, and educated in the district schools. 
 I'^arl)- becoming interested in the art and sci- 
 ence of agriculture, he decided to make farm- 
 ing his life occupation. In early manhood he 
 bought in partnership with his brotlier Jacob 
 the farm on which he now resides, an 1 for sev- 
 eral years they worked it together. In 1S95 
 Mr. \'an Dreser ])urehased his brother's in- 
 terest in the estate, which he has since man- 
 aged alone. 1 le has added substantial improve- 
 ments, including the erection of the jjresent 
 conveniently arranged hendiouse, it being the 
 largest in Schoharie County, and in e\'ery de- 
 partment has met with eminent success in his 
 undertakings. 
 
 He served as jHesident of the Cheviot Sheep 
 breeders' Association of the L'niled States and 
 Canada for three years. He is authority (jn 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 97 
 
 breeds and breeding of thoroughbred cattle, 
 and has served in the capacity of judge at the 
 different fairs in this and other States for 
 many years. He lias been employed for the 
 hist four years by the New York State Farmers' 
 Institute as instructor in his special lines of 
 agriculture. He carries on general farming, 
 but makes somewhat of a specialty of the rais- 
 ing of stock and poultry, and dairy products. 
 He has served ably as president of the New 
 York State ]5reeders' Association, which is 
 devoted to the improvement of the breeding of 
 cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, and is a 
 charter member of the Barnerville Grange, be- 
 fore which he often lectures or reads papers of 
 interest. 
 
 Mr. Van Dreser was married October i6, 
 1873, to Miss funma J. Becker, daughter of 
 the late James Becker, who died on his farm 
 in Cobleskill, February 16, 1895, leaving a 
 widow and four children. Mrs. Van Dreser is 
 a graduate of the Normal College, a woman of 
 culture and refinement. She holds a State 
 certificate, and prior to her marriage she 
 taught most successfully both in Cobleskill 
 and Albany. 
 
 (shames STEVENS, of Greenville, N.Y., 
 a leading insurance agent of this sec- 
 tion of (jreene County, was born on the 
 farm where he now lives, in a house near his 
 present dwelling-place. His family is an old 
 one in the town, having been first represented 
 here by his great-grandfather, Reuben Stevens, 
 vvh(j came from Stamford, Conn., took up a 
 
 tract of land, and became one of the pioneer 
 settlers of this region. 
 
 Reuben's son Samuel, grandfather of James 
 Stevens, was born in Stamford. After coming 
 here he engaged in farming. He died of typhus 
 fever when only thirty-two years of age, this 
 being in 1813. His wife, whose maiden name 
 was Sally Jones, was a native of Stamford. 
 She bore him three children, all of whom are 
 deceased. Left a widow while yet a young 
 woman, she married a second time, and lived 
 to be eighty-four years of age. In religion 
 she was a zealous Baptist. 
 
 Mr. Stevens's parents were Orrin C. and 
 Mary A. (Smith) Stevens, the father a native 
 of Greenville. Orrin C. Stevens worked at 
 carpentering while a young man, but subse- 
 cpiently he carried on the farm where his son 
 now lives. He owned a hundred and sixty 
 acres, and vas a successful fariuer. He was 
 warmly interested in all public affairs, and 
 held various town ofifices, including among 
 others that of Supervisor. For some time he 
 was a Justice of the Peace. In politics he was 
 an old-time Democrat. For years he was a 
 trustee in the Presbyterian church, and one of 
 its most active and influential members. Val- 
 uable service was rendered by him as one of 
 the Sons of Temperance. He lived to the age 
 of eighty-three years. His wife, Mrs. Mary 
 A. Stevens, who died in 1884, after a useful 
 life covering three-quarters of a century, was 
 born on a farm in West Springfield, being one 
 of a family of si.x children. Her |)arents were 
 Daniel and Sarah (Day) .Smith. Of her .seven 
 children, three ai'c deceased. One of them, 
 
98 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 a son Samuel, was Captain of Company A of 
 the Thirty-seveiitli Wisconsin Volunteers in 
 the Civil War, antl lost his life in 1S64, dur- 
 ing the attack on Petersburg. The living 
 chiklren are: James, the subject of this 
 sketch; Daniel, who is a jihysician and drug- 
 gist in Nebraska; Anna, who is the wife of 
 D. II. .Smith, a dentist of llidyoke, Mass.; 
 and Orrin C, second, who is retired from 
 business and resides in !\1 iddleburg. 
 
 James Stevens grew u|) on the farm where 
 he now resides. His education was received 
 in the common schoids, and at Greenville 
 Acadeni}'. Throughout his active life he has 
 devoted more or less time to agricultural pur- 
 suits, and for forty years he also did a large 
 amount of land surveying. He has lived in 
 the house which is now his home since 1883, 
 when he removed here and took charge of his 
 present farm of one hutnlred and thirteen 
 acres. He carries on general farming. In 
 1880 he began the insurance business, being 
 elected that year secretary and treasurer of the 
 village fire insurance comi^iny. This office he 
 has since heUl, and in the inter\ening years he 
 has had the satisfaction of seeing the company 
 constantly increase until now it carries over 
 two million dollars insurance. In the same 
 year Mr. Stevens received his appointment as 
 general agent of four other fire insin-ance com- 
 panies, and in 1893 he organized the Greene 
 County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of 
 which he has since been secretary, treasurer, 
 and general agent. This comixmy, which 
 does a general insurance business at si.\t\' per 
 cent, of stock rates, now has out over two 
 
 thousand, one hundred and fifty policies in 
 fire, representing two million, two huiulred 
 and ninety-two thousand, si.\' hundred and 
 seventy dollars. Its total recciiits for the \ear 
 i8g8 were twelve thousand, five hundreil dol- 
 lars, and the amount of money in the treasm-y 
 on December 11, 189S, was thirteen thousand, 
 four bumlred and forty-two dcdlars, and twenty- 
 si.\ cents. The agents of the company operate 
 in Greene, Albany, Columbia, Delaware, and 
 Schoharie Counties. 
 
 Mr. Stevens was married in 1866 to I*21iza- 
 beth Sherrill, wiio was horn in Green\'ille, 
 daughter of Ezra .Sheiiill, a well-known farmer 
 of this place. She is the mother of two chil- 
 dren — Lucena and Orrin C, third. Lucena 
 marrietl Theodore Coonley, a farmer of this 
 place. Orrin C, third, who is engaged in 
 insurance in Greenville, married Arcia Cook, 
 and has one child, James C. 
 
 I'olitically, Mr. Stevens is a Democrat. 
 He has held the office of Supervisor, and from 
 January, 1889, to April, 1893, he was Deputy 
 County Clerk. I'^ir five years he was clerk of 
 the Hoard of Supervisors. Shortly after being 
 first elected to the office of Town Clerk, he 
 was chosen Second Lieutenant in Company A 
 of the Twentieth Regiment of .State militia, 
 and went South, serving for a time in the l^nion 
 army. For many years he was a member of 
 John W. Watson Post, G. A. R. , of Catskill, 
 and heltl the office of Adjutant in the jiost ; 
 but he subsequently joined the C. Swainc 
 Evans Post, No. 580, of South Westerlo. 
 
 Mr. Stevens is a Mason, having joined the 
 organization in Alarch, 1858, in Cascatle 
 
SOLOMON SIAS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 lOI 
 
 Lodge, V. & A. M., of Oak Hill. In i S64 
 he w:is a charter member of James M. Austin 
 Lodge, No. 557, of Greenville. Of this he 
 was first Senior Deacon, for five years he was 
 Junior Warden and Secretary, and for two 
 years Master. He was formerly connected 
 with the Co.xsackie Royal Arch Chapter, No. 
 85 ; and upon the organization of the Green- 
 ville Chapter, No. 283, he became a charter 
 member of that body. He has held the offices 
 of Scribe and King. He is also a charter 
 member of Zeus Lodge, No. 360, of the 
 Greenville Knights of Pythias, was formerl)- 
 Chancellor, and is at the present time Master 
 of Exchecjuer. Mr. Stevens is a liberal sup- 
 porter of the Presbyterian church, of wliich 
 his famil\- are members. 
 
 ^OLOMON SIAS, principal of the 
 ^/^ public schools of Schoharie, N.Y., 
 and one of the leading educators in 
 the count)', is a native of Danville, Caledonia 
 County, Vt. He was born June 13, 1829. 
 His father, the Rev. Solomon Sias, son of 
 Benjamin and Abigail Sias, was born in Lon- 
 don, Meirimack County, N. H. Grandfather 
 Sias removed with his family from London to 
 Danville, being among the pioneer farmers in 
 that town, where he and his wife lived to a 
 good old age. They had eight children. 
 
 Solomon Sias, Sr. , grew to manhood on the 
 paternal farm, attending school as opportunit\' 
 offered. Feeling himself called to preach the 
 gospel, and giving such proof of his calling 
 that people heard him gladly, he became a cir- 
 
 cuit rider and later a presiding Elder, his cir- 
 cuit taking in at different periods Western 
 Maine, New Hampshire, and Eastern Vermont. 
 By himself he acquired a knowledge of Latin, 
 Greek, and Hebrew. He was a fluent and 
 forcible speaker, thoroughly familiar with the 
 Holy Scriptures, a man of great resource of 
 thought and expression. He was accustomed 
 to ride on horseback from place to place to 
 preach every day and evening, wherever he 
 could get an audience. In L3'nn, Mass., 
 where he was pastor of the Union Street Meth- 
 odist Church, 1S15-16, he started the first 
 Methodist Sunday-school in New England. 
 He was sent several times as a delegate to the 
 General Conference of the Methodist L4.iiscopal 
 Church, to which he belonged. He died at tlie 
 age of seventy-two, a well-].ireserved man to 
 the last, after thirty years of service in his 
 Master's vineyard. He married a widow, Mrs. 
 Amelia Rogers Hewes, the ninth lineal de- 
 scendant of John Rogers, the Smithfield 
 martyr. Mrs. Sias died at the age of sixty- 
 seven, having reared five children, three by 
 her first husband, Mr. Hewes, and two by her 
 second, namely: Solomon, the subject of this 
 sketch; and Amelia, who married Azro 
 Mathewson. 
 
 Mr. Sias, of Schoharie, was educated at 
 Newbury Seminary, Newbury, Vt. ; at Middle- 
 bury College in that State and at Wesleyan 
 University, Middletnwn, Conn., where he be- 
 longed to the class of 1852. He was an assist- 
 ant teacher at Newbury Seminary as early as 
 1850. He received the degree A.M. from 
 Middleburv College, \'t., and of Doctor of 
 
102 
 
 BIOGRAl'llICAL REVIEW 
 
 AK-(licinc from the I'nivcrsily of Vermont at 
 ]5urlington. I'rom 1854 to i 859 he taught at 
 I'ort ]'"(l\varil Iiiistitute, New York, holding 
 tlie eliair of professor of natural science under 
 Josei)h 1-'.. King president of the Institute. 
 Leaving l-'ort luhvard, he accepted a call to 
 take ciiarge of a college for women at Bonhani, 
 Tex., where he remained conducting the affairs 
 of the college fm- eight years. lie then came 
 to New York State and accepted a call to take 
 charge of the seminary at Charlotte\'ille. In 
 1874 he came to Scliohaiie and took tlie posi- 
 tion he now holds, which, with the exception 
 of a hrief period — 1877 to 187S — spent in 
 Texas as president of the Soule Uni\ersity at 
 Chapel Hill, he has held continuously from 
 that date. 
 
 The Schoharie school has greatl\- improved 
 under his management, and is now a first-class 
 high school in every respect and very flourish- 
 ing. Ahout two hundred students are enrolled 
 and five subordinate teachers are employed. 
 Mr. Sias is the oldest principal in active ser- 
 vice in the county, and is among the oldest in 
 the State as princi|ial and teacher. lie has 
 arranged for the Schoharie school the most ad- 
 vanced course of any school in the county, and 
 he always keeps up to the times in means and 
 methods of educational work, using the latest 
 ajjproved text-books and reference books. His 
 efforts are imiformly inilorsed by the State 
 regents, at whose request he has s])oken 
 upon numerous educational topics in the 
 conventions held at the State capital. lie 
 has attended all of the meetings since 1866 and 
 every county institute lor thirty years, speak- 
 
 ing at many of them. He has been secretary 
 of the county institute for nearly fifteen \eais, 
 has been assistant conductor one year, besides 
 often serving briefly as assistant conductor of 
 other institutes. 
 
 He was married July 2, 1857, to Lina 
 Baker, daughter of Daniel Baker, of Youngs- 
 town, New York. One child was born of this 
 union, a son named Frederick. He w-as edu- 
 cated in the Schoharie schools, then learned 
 telegraphy at Brooklyn, N.Y. , and became 
 manager of a telegraph office. Taken suddenly 
 ill with t)phnitl pneumonia, he died at the age 
 of nineteen. 
 
 Professor Sias is a fellow of the American 
 Association for the Advancemerit of Science, 
 to which he has belonged since 1 866, and for 
 several years he was an observer for the Smith- 
 sonian Institution. He has had charge of an 
 educational department in the Schoharie A'l- 
 publican, to which he has contributed articles 
 that have been copied by the leading educational 
 papers of the State, and he has been a frequent 
 correspondent of several other journals. He is 
 an acti\-e member of the Schoharie County 
 Historical Society, of which he was one of the 
 three original organizers. He was instrumen- 
 tal in securing the "Old Stone Fort " for the 
 purposes of the society. He is likewise con- 
 nected with the meilical society of this county, 
 having served as brigade surgeon during the 
 Civil War. Mr. Sias was made a Mason in 
 Connecticut, was afterward connected with the 
 order in X'erniont and later in Texas, where he 
 was Mastei' of a lodge. He is now a twenty- 
 scwntli degree Mason, a member of Schoharie 
 
JJIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Lodge, No. 491, and of the chapter and coun- 
 cil. As an Odd Fellow he belongs to To- 
 wos-scho-ho Lodge i)f Schoharie, has twice 
 been Noble Grand, is now a member of Mid- 
 dleburg luicampment, and Past Captain of 
 Canton Young, No. 45, of Schoharie. In jioli- 
 tics he is a Democrat. 
 
 Mrs. Sias is a graduate of the collegiate 
 department of Fort Edward Institute, and has 
 taught school. Both Mr. and Mrs. Sias are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and he has preached a great number of sermons 
 in pulpits of Schoharie and the neighboring 
 towns. 
 
 NDREW G. LIDDLE, a stirring farmer 
 01 Princetown, was born in this town, 
 February 23, 1859. Son of Alex- 
 ander and liarbara (Gregg) Liddle, he C(}mes 
 of highly re]uitable Scotch ancestry, being of 
 the fourth generation in descent from Alexan- 
 der Liddle, a native of Scotland, who emi- 
 grated with his parents when a young man, and 
 was an early settler in Duanesburg. This is 
 the line: Alexander, Robert, Alexander, sec- 
 ond, Andrew G, 
 
 Alexander Liddle, first, became a large land 
 owner. The farm now owned by his grandson, 
 Alexander, second, was a part of his estate, 
 and he resided here until his death, which oc- 
 curred in his ninety-third year. He was a 
 member of the Reformed Presbyterian church, 
 and a strong Abolitionist. The maiden name 
 of his wife was Mary Gifford. 
 
 Robert Liddle, the grandfather, was born in 
 
 Duanesburg, January 12, 1803. He was a 
 prosperous farmer during his active years, and 
 he died in Duanesburg at the age of eighty- 
 eight. Politically, he was originally a Whig, 
 and later a Republican. In his younger days 
 he took an active part in military affairs, and 
 was Captain of a local rifle company. He was 
 an Inkier of the Presbyterian church. Robert 
 Liddle was three times married; and his first 
 wife, Sarah Smith, a native of Princetown, be- 
 came the mother of eight children, namely: 
 Alexander; Abigail, born October 6, 1828; 
 Mary, born August 31, 1830; Ann E., born 
 March 3, 1834; Charles, born March 7, 1836; 
 Thomas G., born July 18, 1838; Abram S., 
 born June 9, 1840; and Robert W. , born 
 April 30, 1842. By his union with Sarah 
 Robinson, his second wife, there were five 
 children: Angus M., born January 29, 1846; 
 Duncan N., born March 26, 1848; Jenette, 
 born August 12, 1850; and Sarah C. and John 
 K., twins, who are no longer living. 
 
 Alexander Liddle, second, the father, was 
 born April 17, 1827, upon a farm adjoining 
 the one which he now occupies. He was 
 reared to farm life, and at the age of twenty- 
 nine years he bought a farm in Princetown of 
 one hundred and twenty-nine acres, upon 
 which he resided for sixteen years, and which 
 he still owns. He has occupied his present 
 farm of one hundred acres in Duanesburg since 
 1885, and this property is provided with good 
 buildings and is otherwise well improved. 
 His energy and industry continue unabated, 
 and he is highly esteemed by his fellow-towns- 
 men. He supports the- Republican party at 
 
104 
 
 IMOGRAl'IIICAL RF.VIEW 
 
 natiimal elections, but lias ne\'er cared t(i Imld 
 office. Like his ancestors he is a Reformed 
 l'resl)\-lerian in religion, and acts as an Elder 
 of that church. Mrs. Barbara Grei^^g Liddle, 
 his first wife, who was a native of Rotterdam, 
 N. V\, died Ajiril 14, 1874, leaving; two sons 
 — Robert A. and Andrew G. Robert A. 
 Liddle, born December 4, 1^56, married Re- 
 becca Wemple, resides in Duanesburg, and has 
 three children — James, Barbara, and Anna. 
 On February g, 1876, Alexander Liddle mar- 
 ried for his second wife Margaret Cowell, who 
 was born in England, January 30, 1839. B)- 
 this union he has one daughter, Jeannettc S., 
 who was born March 17, 1S78. 
 
 .\ndiew C. Liddle, the special subject of 
 this sketch, was educated in the district 
 schools of Princetown. He has always resided 
 upon the fai'ni he now cultivates, which was 
 purchasetl b\- his father in 1856, and since 
 reaching manhood he has successfullv managed 
 the property. He raises oats, rye, corn, and 
 hay, keeps about ten head of stock, and ranks 
 among the leading farmers of this section of 
 Schenectady County. 
 
 Mr. Liddle married Lillie \l DeFore.st, of 
 Alban\', and has three children, name])- : 
 Alexander, born July 7, 1883; Edith, born 
 January 26, 1886; and I^aura M., born ALiy 6, 
 I 890. 
 
 In politics Mr. Liddle is a Reijublican, and 
 has served with ability as Supervisor for three 
 years. He belongs to Farmers' (irange. No. 
 709, Patrons of Husbandry, antl has served as 
 Master for three years. He is a member of 
 the South Reformed Presbyterian church. 
 
 % 
 
 H.XRl.ES \"OSS, merchant and Post- 
 master at Tannersville, Greene 
 Count\', N.Y. , was born in Ilol- 
 stein, German\', F\-brnary 14, 1849, son of 
 Frederick and Maria (Retting) Voss. LI is 
 great-grandfather, Hans Van Voss, who was a 
 native of Holland, removed to Holstein, and 
 after living there a short time had the name 
 changed to Voss. Lie was a farmer and 
 dr(j\-er, and followed these occuijations until 
 his death, which occurred when he was sixty 
 \^ears old. 
 
 John \'oss, grandfather of Charles, was born 
 in Holland. He also followed farming, and 
 was one of the largest drovers in his vicinity. 
 He had a large family of chiklren, among 
 them being P'rcderick, Henry, Horace, An- 
 drew, and Louisa. He died at about sixty 
 years of age. P'rederick \'oss, father of 
 Charles, was also a farmer and cattle dealer. 
 He shijiped cattle fi'om Denmark to ]{ngland, 
 doing an extensive business in that line; and 
 he tilled the soil (jf a large farm successfully 
 until he was about sixty years old, when he re- 
 tired. He then removed to Altona, near the 
 city of Hamburg, where he died at sex'cnty- 
 eight. Lie made three visits to his son 
 Charles in .America. His wife, Maria, was a 
 native of Holstein, where her father, Adolph 
 Retting, followed farming, and where he died 
 at over seventy years of age. She was the 
 mother of eleven chikhen, nine of whom — 
 namely, William, P^dward, Charles, Mary, kla, 
 /\ndrew, Otto, Phaiest, and 'Pheodore — are 
 still lix'ing, four residing in America. IVLu'y 
 the eldest bister, married P'red Koch; lila 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 nianied a Lieutenant in the German army ; 
 Otto resides in Florida; and Ernest is in 
 Piiiladel]3hia. Theodore is a carpenter and 
 builder in Phcenicia, N. Y. The others were 
 Frederick and Dora. Tiie mother died in 
 1896, being over eighty years old. The par- 
 ents were members of the Lutheran church. 
 Charles Vos.s spent his early years in his 
 native town, and acquired his education in pri- 
 vate schools. After finishing his studies he 
 learned the trade of a miller and a cabinet- 
 maker. He began his three years' apprentice- 
 ship at the latter at the age of sixteen, and 
 worked as a journeyman one year. In i86g he 
 came to America, sailing from Hamburg and 
 landing in New York, where he at once se- 
 cured employment in a bakery. He next went 
 to Phoenicia, N.Y. , and he was employed in 
 the Chichester Chair Factory for one year. 
 At the expiration of that time he went to Sul- 
 livan County, Pennsylvania, and was engaged 
 for two seasons in peeling hemlock bark. Re- 
 turning to Phoenicia, he spent another year in 
 the chair factory, and passed the next in Ger- 
 many. Upon his return to the United .States 
 in 1876, he attended the Centennial Exhibi- 
 tion in Philatlelphia, and, remaining in that 
 city the entire summer, he was employed as 
 conductor on the Chestnut Street line of cars. 
 Going to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 
 tlie fall of that year, he worked on a farm, and 
 also ran a milk route to Philadelphia, follow- 
 ing this occupation for two years, when he 
 sold out and returned to Phoenicia. He later 
 became manager of the store owned by the 
 Chichester Chair Company, which position he 
 
 occupied for nine years. Removing to Hun- 
 ter, he erected the hotel known as "The Bel- 
 videre, " which has accommodations for one 
 hundred and twenty-five guests. After con- 
 ducting this hotel for eight years, he sold the 
 property. Later he repurchased it, and still 
 owns and rents it. He owns two dwellin^- 
 houses, one of which adjoins the hotel, and is 
 used by him as a residence. In 1892 he 
 rented the store formerly occupied by Jacob 
 Fromer. This he conducted for five years, 
 when he was obliged to make an assignment; 
 but he soon settled with his creditors, and 
 again started in business. The building he 
 now occupies he erected in 1894 as an anne.x 
 to his large establishment, and it was used for 
 the hardware and plumbing departments. 
 L'pon the expiration of his lease of Mr. Fro- 
 mer's property, he removed the annex to its 
 present location, where he now carries grocer- 
 ies and notions. The post-office is located in 
 his store; and on July i, 1898, he received the 
 appointment of Postmaster for four years. 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Voss was united in marriage 
 with Jennie E. Haner, daughter of William 
 M. Haner, of Prattsville. Her great-grand- 
 father, Martin Haner, who was a native of 
 Dutchess County, moved from there to Pratts- 
 ville, and was a pioneer farmer. Her grand- 
 father, also named Martin, went from Dutch- 
 ess County to Prattsville, and settled upon a 
 farm two miles from the village on the road to 
 West Kill. He died at the age of seventy- 
 five. He married for his first wife Elizabeth 
 Shumaker. They had seven children, three of 
 whom are living, namel)' : Lawrence, who 
 
io6 
 
 EIOGRAl'IIICAL REVIEW 
 
 manicd Judith Spencer; William M. llancr, 
 Mrs. Voss's father; and Jemima A., who mar- 
 ried Henry Palmer, of Gilboa. Mrs. Kliza- 
 beth S. Ilaner died at the age of fifty. 
 
 William M. Haner, after cultivating a farm 
 in I'rattsville some time, nicnx'd to the town 
 of Roxbury, where he continued to till the soil 
 until his retirement. He is still living, and 
 is now seventy-six years old. His wife, Cor- 
 nelia Maginnis, a native of Prattsville, is a 
 daughter of Jacob and Jennie (Stanley) Ma- 
 ginnis. His familv consisted of eight chil- 
 dren, four of whom are living, namely: 
 George Haner, M.D., who resides in Tanners- 
 ville; Jennie E. , who is now Mrs. Charles 
 Voss ; Homer, who resides in Omaha; and 
 Clark R., a book-keeper in Tannersville. 
 The mother attends the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. Mrs. Voss v^'as educated in the com- 
 mon schools of Prattsville and at Jewett Acad- 
 emy. She is the mother of three children — 
 Ralph, Ethel Ann, and Mollie M. Ralph is 
 attending the high school in Hunter, and 
 lithel Ann has attained the highest rank in her 
 class at school the jjresent year. Mollie M. 
 Voss, now a student in the Hunter High 
 School, is considered the champion girl trick 
 bicycle rider in the State. 
 
 Mr. Voss is a Republican in jjolitics, and 
 has taken an active part in public affairs. He 
 was Supervisor in 1892 and 1893. He was 
 greatly interested in the incojjoration of the 
 village, and was Trustee in 1S97 and Presi- 
 dent in i8g8. He has been a member of 
 Kingston Lodge, E. & A. M., for over twent\- 
 five years; is a charter member of Catskill 
 
 Chajiter, Royal .Arch Masons, and also belongs 
 to the Royal Arcanum. The family attend 
 the Congregational church as well as the Sun- 
 day-school, in which Mrs. Voss is a teacher. 
 
 IRA M. TERPENING, a skilful and pro- 
 gressive agriculturist of P'ulton, N.Y., 
 was born Jul\- 31, 1857, in the town of 
 Kno.x, Albany Coimty, a son of Henry H. Ter- 
 pening. His paternal grandfather, Moses Ter- 
 pen ing, was born ami brought up in Esopus, 
 Ulster County, N.\'., wlience he renioxed to 
 Albany County, where he settled on a farm in 
 Kno.x, being one of its earlier pioneers. Sub- 
 sequently, coming to Summit in Schoharie 
 Coimty, Moses Terpening was there engaged 
 in general farming until his decease, at the 
 advanced age of eighty-eight years. He mar- 
 ried a Miss Snytler, and they reared ten 
 children. 
 
 Henry H. Terpening was educated in the 
 district schools, and, becoming a farmer from 
 choice, he purchased land, when a young man, 
 in Cortland County, where he [lursued his in- 
 dependent calling a few years. Not being 
 verv well satisfied with his prospects thcrcS he 
 sold out and removed to Knox, in Albany 
 County. Several years later he purcha.sed 
 the farm in Fulton that is now owned and 
 occujMed by his son, Ira M., and here passed 
 his remaining da)-s, <lying August 10, 1897, 
 at the venerable age of ninety-one years. A 
 man of integrity, he was highly respected by 
 all. In politics he was an adherent of the Re- 
 publican party. He married Cornelia L. , 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 107 
 
 daughter of Jeremiah Havens, a lifelong 
 farmer of Jefferson, N.Y. They reared four 
 children, namely: Ira M., of Fulton; Eunice,, 
 wife of John Fecck ; Bertha, the wife of 
 Charles Mann, of whom a brief sketch appears 
 elsewhere in this volume; and Henry J. Both 
 parents were members of the Reformed church, 
 in which the father was an holder. 
 
 Ira M. Terpening obtained a practical edu- 
 cation in the public schools of his native town, 
 and from his earliest youth, when not in 
 school, assisted in the labors of the home 
 farm. On the death of his father he succeeded 
 to the ownership of the homestead estate of 
 one hundred and fifty acres, and he has since 
 managed it with signal success. He carries 
 on general farming, including stock-raising to 
 some extent and dairying. In politics he is 
 a sound ReiHiblican. He is a member of the 
 Dutch Reformed church of Aliddleburg, and 
 he and his family attend also the Sunday- 
 school connected with that church. 
 
 On January 14, 1876, Mr. Terpening mar- 
 ried Angeline Murphy, daughter of Peter Mur- 
 phy, of Fulton, and grand-daughter of Timothy 
 Murphy, the renowned Indian scout. Tim- 
 othy Murphy, born in America, of Irish par- 
 ents, was one of the pioneer settlers of this 
 section of Schoharie County, and one (jf the 
 largest landholders of Fulton, owning also 
 large tracts of real estate in South Worcester 
 and in other places along the Susquehanna. 
 During the Revolutionary War he rendered in- 
 estimable assistance as one of the most brave 
 and daring scouts. His exploits, wliich are 
 well-known to all students of history, won fur 
 
 him the name of "Muriiliy, the Indian 
 Killer." At Bemis Heights his gallant con- 
 duct turned the tide of affairs and gave to 
 General Gates the victory. At the "Middle 
 Fort," by his cool and decisive actions, and 
 more especially by his refusal to obey the 
 orders of a superior officer, he saved the Scho- 
 harie garrison from falling a prey to the Retl- 
 skins. After the war he resumed the jnu-suit 
 of agriculture, and remained on his farm until 
 his death, at the age of si.xty-seven years. 
 His first wife, Margaret Feeck, was born in 
 Fulton, on Mr. Terpening's farm, and died in 
 this town at the early age of forty years. She 
 left five children, of whom Peter was the 
 youngest. 
 
 Peter Murphy inherited the ancestral home- 
 stead in Fulton and two other farms in this 
 vicinity. These three he carried on simulta- 
 neously, and for years was one of the largest 
 and best-known agriculturists of Fulton, where 
 he spent his long and useful life of fourscore 
 and four )'ears. He was deeply interested in 
 the welfare of his native town, which he 
 served as Supervisor two terms, and as Collec- 
 tor a number of years. His wife, Catherine 
 Jiorst, was born on the old Borst farm in Scho- 
 harie, one of the nine children of Peter Borst, 
 a jjrosperous farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy 
 reared seven children, as follows: Marian, de- 
 ceased; Helen, wife of John Follick; Mar- 
 garet, who married William Wearman ; Bet- 
 sey, wife of Thomas I'ollick; Ann; Kate; 
 and Angeline, now Mrs. Terpening. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Terpening have one son, C. 
 P'rederick Terpening, M. D. He completed 
 
loS 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 his early education in the graded schools of 
 Middleburg, studied medicine for a year with 
 Dr. Kifenberg, and then entered the Univer- 
 sity Medical College, New York City, class of 
 1898. After receiving his diploma, he en- 
 tered the Hlackvvcll's Isle Hospital, where he 
 will graduate in 1900. 
 
 l^-NAKKh: C. LI-:MMAN, of the firm of 
 Lehman lirotiiers, dealers in general 
 merchandise and farming implements 
 at Argusvillc, in the town of Carlisle (for- 
 merly a part of Sharon), Schoharie County, 
 N.Y. , was born in tliis iilace on April 3, 
 1869, son of S\l\-ester and Mary Ann (Lane) 
 Lehman. 
 
 His great-grandfather Lehman came to 
 America with Burgoyne's army, having crossed 
 the F.nglish channel with other Germans, and 
 joined the British soldiery before leaving luig- 
 land. After arriving in this counti)' he de- 
 serted from the army, and settled in Sharon, 
 where he was one of the first white inhabi- 
 tants. It is related that he wore a metal 
 breastplate which he brought over with him, 
 antl that this at one time saved his life by pro- 
 tecting him from a bullet. He remained in 
 .Sharon as long as he lived, engaged in farm- 
 ing. He spoke only the Cerman tongue. 
 
 His son Benjamin,^ grandfather of Parke C. 
 Lehman, was born here, ami always resided 
 here until his death at the age of eighty years. 
 Like his fatlier he was chxsel)- iilentified with 
 the Lutheran church. He worked at his tiade 
 of carpenter, and he alscj farmed to s(ime ex- 
 
 tent. He settled at what is now known as the 
 Lehman homestead, on which his grandson 
 Charles now resides. This pro|)erty contained 
 originally three hundred antl fifteen acres. 
 Benjamin Lehman built most of the barns and 
 houses in this vicinity. He untlerwent many 
 hardshi])S. While working at Stone Arabia, 
 some thirteen miles distant, he would rise 
 early in the morning on Mondax', travel the 
 whole distance on for)t, and lie on liLind in time 
 for his day's work. On Saturday night he 
 walked home again. During his absences the 
 farm was cared for by his sons, of whom there 
 were four. Each of these upon being married 
 was gi\'en a plot of land and a fair start in 
 life. Benjamin Lehman had four wives. His 
 sons were: Stephen, who is tlie only one now 
 living, Charles, Peter, and -Silvester. Both 
 Charles and Peter were married, and the latter 
 had a famil\- of children. Peter tiled in 
 Brooklyn, N.Y. Benjamin Lehman spnke the 
 German language and Intiken I*>nglish. 
 
 Sylvester Lehman, father of Parke C, was 
 a lifelong farmer on his hundred and seventy- 
 five acres, raising mi.xed crt)ps. He w-as also 
 engaged to a considerable extent in stock- 
 raising, breeding short-bornetl cattle, which 
 farmers from all the neighboring towns came 
 to [lurchase. He was an ardent worker in the 
 church, anil held at one time antl another 
 nearlv all the church offices. Of liis famil\- of 
 nine chiltlren, the eldest, Ja}', tlied in infancy. 
 The others were as follows: Mai'}', who is the 
 wife of W'illicun Crosby, M.D., of Rochester, 
 Intl. ; Charles, abo\e nametl, who resitles on 
 the Lehman htimestead ; Jessie, who died at 
 
THOMAS E. FKRKIKK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 the age of twenty-six; Romaine, who is a 
 farmer of Sharon, N. Y. ; Sylvester, Jr., who 
 is a member of the firm of I.ehman I^rothers; 
 Parke, the subject of this article; P'orcl, who 
 is a student in the classical course at Penn 
 College, Gettysburg; and Bessie G. Sylves- 
 ter Lehman, Jr., married Kate Allen, daugh- 
 ter of James Allen, of Root, N. Y. Bessie G. 
 Lehman was married in December, 1897, to 
 Lewis C. Berger, of Seward, N. Y. 
 
 Parke C. Lehman in his boyhood attended 
 the district schools in company with his 
 brothers and sisters, and subsequently worked 
 out at farming. After saving a small amount 
 of money he went to Albany, where he took 
 a course in the business college. Subsequent 
 to that he was clerk for four years for J. P. 
 Milligan; and at the expiration of that time, 
 or in September, 1893, he formed a partner- 
 shij) with his brother Sylvester, and bought 
 out the business of Mr. Milligan. This firm 
 has done a most prosperous business. Their' s 
 being the only general merchandise store in 
 Argusville, they have a large trade, and, as 
 their business methods are prompt and thor- 
 oughly hnniirable, they are popular, and have 
 the fullest confidence of their patrons. Many 
 changes have been made in the store since 
 Lehman Brothers took possession of it. 
 
 Parke C. Lehman was appointed Postmaster 
 on May 6, 1898. He had previously served as 
 Deputy Postmaster. In politics he is a Ke- 
 |iublican. ]?oth brothers are Masons and 
 members of Sharon Springs Lodge, No. 624. 
 Botli are active in politics, and prominent in 
 church work. Parke C. Lehman is secretary 
 
 of the Su.iday school and of the church 
 council. 
 
 Parke C. Lehman married on June 16, 1898, 
 Miss Lilah Wemple, of P^juda, N.Y. , she 
 being a daughter of one of the first families (jf 
 Montgomery County. 
 
 & 
 
 MOMAS E. FP:KRIKR, one of the rep- 
 resentative business men of Catskill, 
 was born in the town of Warwick, Orange 
 County, N.Y. , on April 15, 1821, son of Jo- 
 seph and PLinnah W. (P^d.sall) P^rrier. Ac- 
 cording to the best information obtainable his 
 first progenitors in this CDuntry were P^rcnch 
 Huguenots, who during revolutionary (.r relig- 
 ious disturbances in' F'rance emigrated to Ire- 
 land and thence to America. 
 
 His great-grandfather was Thomas P^'erricr, 
 who was born in 1705, and died in 1792. 
 This Thomas removed frt)m Connecticut to 
 Orange County, New York, settling near 
 Amity. His wife, whose name in maidenhood 
 was Hester Lucky, died in 1796. Their fam- 
 ily consisted of three daughters and one son — 
 Sarah, Hester, Jane, and Robert. Sarah mar- 
 ried David Perkins, Hester married Benja- 
 min Carpenter, and Jane became the wife of 
 William Owens. 
 
 Robert P\>rrier, who was the grandfather of 
 Thomas E., and who succeeded to the posses- 
 sion of the homestead farm, was born in 1762, 
 and died in 1822. He married Mary Wilcox, 
 saiil to have been of German ancestry, who was 
 born in 1764, and died in 1836. Tbe\' iiad a 
 family of ten children, namely: William, born 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in 17S6, who died in 1873; Anna, Ijorn in 
 1788, who died in 1858; Joseph (father of the 
 subject of tiiis sketch), l)orn in 1791, who died 
 in 1871; Thomas, born in 1793, who died in 
 1839; David, who was born in 1795; Hester, 
 liorn in 179S, wlio died in 1889; Klizabeth, 
 who was born in 1800; Robert, born in 1802, 
 wliodied in 1872; Michael J., who was born in 
 1805; and Sarah M., l)orn in 1807, wlio died 
 in 1821, at the ai;e of fourteen years. WMll- 
 iam niairied Hannah Samons, and settled at 
 Ypsilanti, Mich. Anna married Daniel 
 Nanny, and settletl in the town of Warwick, 
 N.Y. Joseph married Hannah W. Edsall, and 
 .settled in the town of Warwick, N.Y. Thomas 
 marrietl Sarah Dennison, and settled on the 
 I<"erricr homestead. David married Eliza Cain, 
 and settled first in Yates County, New York, 
 whence he removed subsequently to Sunbury, 
 Delaware County, Ohio. Hester became the 
 wife of .Samuel Conklin, and settled in ^'ates 
 CountN', New York. Elizabeth married David 
 Carr, and settled at Wantage, Sussex County, 
 N.J. Robert m.irricd Emily Tobey, and set- 
 tled at Dundee, Yates County, N.Y. Michael 
 J. married Mar)- Ann Neighbor, and went to 
 leside at Swartswood, Sussex County, N.J. 
 
 Jose|)h Ferrier, who was brought up to 
 a'.jricultural life, settled on a farm adjoining the 
 homestead. His wife, in maidenhood Hannah 
 W. Edsall, was of 1-jiglish ancestry. They 
 reared the following children : John M., born 
 in 1816, married !■" ranees Coleman in 1841, 
 and died in 1843 as the result of an ac- 
 cident. Sarah M., born in 181S, who married 
 Matthew Hailey in 1840, after his death be- 
 
 came the wife of James Thompson in 1862, died 
 August 10, 1899. Thomas E. , born in 1821, 
 is the subject of this sketch. Louisa, born 
 in 1S24, married Cornelius J. Jones in 1845, 
 and after . his death married for her sec- 
 ond husband William Walling. She died in 
 1858. Almira, born in 1827, married Cor- 
 nelius J. Laziar in 1844, and is still living. 
 Edsall, Ijorn in 1831, married Anna M. Hum- 
 mel in 1859, and is now one of the faculty 
 of Lafayette College at Easton, Pa. Robert, 
 born in 1835, married Cecelia D. Jones, and 
 died in 1877. 
 
 Thomas E. Ferrier when in his fifleenlh 
 year left home and went to P^clenville, where 
 he remained two and a half years, working in a 
 country store. He then attended the district 
 school for a year, after which he taught school 
 for a year at Hellvale in the town of Warwick. 
 Then, returning home, he was emjdoyed dur- 
 ing the summer of 1S40 on his fatlu-r's farm. 
 In the fall of thai year he left home for a trip 
 through the West with the view of gaining a 
 knowledge of the country anil of possibly find- 
 ing a desirable place in which to settle. Rail- 
 roads were few in those days ; and much or 
 most of his journey was made by steamboat, 
 cmal, or stage. Going to Newliurg, he trav- 
 elled by steamboat to .Albany, and thence to 
 Buffalo by way of the Eric Canal. After 
 spending a da_\- or two at IJuffalo and Niagara 
 P'alls, he went by steamboat on Lake Iirie to 
 Cleveland, Ohio, and thence by canal to Colum- 
 bus, Ohio. Then, after sta}ing a few days w'ith 
 an uncle at Sunbury, he took the stage from 
 Columbus to Dj}toii, and from tliere travelled 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 113 
 
 by canal to Cincinnati. From that place he 
 went by steamboat on the Ohio River to Louis- 
 ville, Ky. , where he stopped for a few days, 
 and then went by boat down the Ohio to the 
 Mississippi and up that river to St. Louis, 
 Mo., in whicli city he remained for two weeks. 
 From St. Louis he went on up the river to 
 Quincy, 111., and after looking about in that 
 neighborhood for a week or two he took a 
 school in Pike County, which he taught until 
 the following spring. He then returned home 
 by way of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to 
 Pittsburg, and through Pennsylvania and New 
 Jersey, partly by canal and partly by rail, to 
 New York City, and thence to Nevvburg by 
 boat, arriving home in April, 1S41. He then 
 resumed work on his father's farm, following 
 that occupation during the summer and teach- 
 ing school in the winter in the neighboring 
 school districts. In 1845, when in his twenty- 
 fifth year, he was married to Pllizabeth, daugh- 
 ter of John W. and Dorothy Wheeler (Rogers) 
 Vandererf, and settled on a farm of ninety 
 acres, adjoining his father's, which had for- 
 merly formed a part of his grandfather's home- 
 stead. Here he followed an agricultural life 
 for twenty years. Then, selling out, he re- 
 moved to Catskill, N.Y., where, in company 
 with his brother Robert, who had preceded 
 him to that place by about five years, he en- 
 gaged in the maiuifacture of brick. Shortly 
 afterward they enlarged their sphere of opera- 
 tions by engaging in building in Brooklyn, 
 N.Y., Robert removing to New York to look 
 after their interests there, while Thomas re- 
 mained at Catskill to superintend the manu- 
 
 facture and shipping of the bricks. After the 
 great financial panic of 1873, which proved 
 very disastrous to tlieir building operations, 
 Robert returned to Catskill in very poor 
 health, and soon afterward died. Thomas, hav- 
 ing jjreviously [lurchased his brother's interest 
 in the brickyard and other property, continued 
 to carry on business alone until 1882, when he 
 took his son-in-law, Percival Golden, into part- 
 nership; and the firm has since been conducted 
 under the name of Ferrier & Golden. Mr. 
 Ferrier has been a director of the Catskill 
 National Rank for the last twenty years or more, 
 and is now vice-president of that institution. 
 He is president of the Catskill Building and 
 Loan Association and treasurer of the Catskill 
 Rural Cemetery Association. He is also 
 largely interested in the Catskill Knitting 
 Mill, owning a three-eighths interest, which 
 concern, one of the largest and most important 
 in the town, gives employment to from one 
 hundred and fifty to one hundred and si.xty 
 hands. 
 
 Mr. Ferrier is a Republican in politics. In 
 1885 he was elected Supervisor of the town, 
 and, being subsequently re-elected to the same 
 office, served therein for five years. He also 
 was elected County Treasurer, in which office 
 he served three years, declining a renomination 
 on account of advancing age, he being then in 
 his seventy-fifth year. In religion a Presl^yte- 
 rian, he has been for a number of years a trus- 
 tee and Elder of the church of that denomina- 
 tion in Catskill. His reputatitm is that of a 
 business man of more than average ability and 
 of the strictest integrit)', and also that of a eit- 
 
114 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 i/A'i) who lias rendered useful service to the 
 town and whose aid and influence can always 
 be counted upon in favor of any practical meas- 
 ures for the moral or ])hysical betterment of the 
 conimunitN'. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ferrier have been the parents 
 of three children, namely: Hannah Elizabeth, 
 born in May, 1S49, who married in 1872 
 Hiram W. Lane, and has one child, Herbert 
 A. Lane, born in 1870; Willis Wentworth, 
 born in October, 1 850, who died in 1871, as 
 the result of an accident; and IMary Wheeler, 
 born in 1854, who married Percival Golden in 
 1875, and has had four children — Lizzie F. 
 Golden, born in 1S76, who died in 1885, Wil- 
 lis P. Golden, born in 1S82, May Marshall and 
 Mabel French Golden, twins, born in 1887. 
 
 Is 
 
 [^OAH DIBBLE WEST, a well-known 
 apiarist of Middleburg, N.Y., is one 
 of the largest honey producers of 
 Schoharie County antl with but two excep- 
 tions the largest in the entire State, if not in 
 the Union. He was born March 5, 1845, in 
 the neighboring town of Gilboa, the birth- 
 place ol his father, David West, Jr. His 
 great-grandfather West, who came, it is be- 
 lie\-ed from l''ngkuul, was one of the original 
 settlers of (iilboa, whither he removed from 
 Connecticut in Colonial times, coming here 
 when the country was a wooded wilderness and 
 rearing the small log cabin in which he and 
 his family first found shelter. 
 
 David West, Sr. , the grandf.Uher of Noah 
 D., spent the larger part of his threescore and 
 
 ten years in (jilboa, where he was one of the 
 leading farmers and a citizen of influence. 
 Pos.sessing considerable legal knowledge, he 
 transacted law business to some extent for his 
 neighbors, bv whom he was highly esteemeil. 
 At his death he left his widow, whose maiden 
 name was Rachel Ward, with four children — 
 Orman West, Julia .Ann, David, and William. 
 She subsequently married again, and by her 
 second husband, George Hugh.son, had four 
 sons — John C, George, Cephas, and Robert. 
 John C. Hughson left home at the earl)- age of 
 sixteen \-ears, and after working out for a few- 
 years he became interested in the lumber busi- 
 ness. He died a millionaire. 
 
 David West, Jr., was born September 27, 
 1813, and died June I2, 1883. He was reared 
 on a farm, and was engaged in agricultural 
 jiursuits to a greater or less extent during his 
 entire life. Having a natural ajDtitude for 
 mechanics, he also worked at the carpenter's 
 trade in his early manhood. Purchasing a 
 tract of woodland, he cleared a s]iace, 011 which 
 he built his first dwelling, and in a few years 
 he erected a fine set of other frame buildings. 
 Thereafter he attended to the cultivation of his 
 land imtil his death, at the age of sixty-nine. 
 
 Lie married March 20, 1840, Celinda Dib- 
 ble, daughter of Noah and .Abigail (Crippen) 
 Dibble. Her ])aternal grandparents were Dan- 
 iel anti Lois (Pomeroy) Dibble, the grand- 
 mother the daughter of Daniel Pomeroy, a 
 Revolutionary soldier. The parents of Ce- 
 linda Dibble had ten chiklren, three of w-honi 
 survive, namel)' : Jane, born in 1820; .Abi- 
 gail, born in 1822; antl .\manda, born in 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 "S 
 
 1826. Noah Dibble, who served as a soldier 
 of the War of 1812, was a carpenter in Mid- 
 dlebiirg, and well known throughout this sec- 
 tion as a builder of saw-mills, which he made 
 a specialty. He died at the age of seventy-six 
 years. Mrs. Abigail Dibble died on Septem- 
 ber 12, 1S69, aged seventy-nine years, six 
 months, and nine days. In religion she was 
 a Baptist. David West, Jr., and his wife, 
 Celinda, were also members of the Baptist 
 church. Of their union but one child was 
 born, Noah D., the special subject of this 
 biography. The mother was born on February 
 23, 1 817, anil died May 17, 1893, at the age 
 of seventy-si.x years. 
 
 As mentioned above, Daniel Pomeroy, her 
 grandmother Dibble's father, great-great- 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
 a soldier of the American Revolution. He 
 was under Washington, and it is related that 
 the General on parting ga\e him his cane as 
 a keepsake. This cane Daniel Pomeroy gave 
 to his daughter Lois (Mrs. Daniel Dibble), 
 with the request that she should hand it down 
 to her eldest son, Noah Dibble, to be always 
 kept in the Dibble family, held by the eldest 
 son of each succeeding generation. P'rom 
 Noah Dibble the Washington cane passed to his 
 eldest son, Ichabod Dibble, brother of Ce- 
 linda; from Ichabod to his eldest son, Sylves- 
 ter; and at the death of Sylvester, leaving no 
 son, it came into the possession of his brother, 
 Jesse Dibble, its present owner, who is a cou- 
 sin of Noah Dibble West, the sjiecial subject 
 of the present biography. 
 
 Noah D. West grew to manhood on the 
 
 home farm in Gilboa. At the age of twenty 
 he commenced teaching school, and he was 
 thus employed in his native town for ten 
 terms. He also assisted in the management of 
 the home farm until attaining his majority, 
 when he took possession of a few of its acres, 
 and turned his attention to the culture of bees, 
 an industry in which he had been interested 
 from boyhood. Ten years later he bought his 
 present farm of ten acres, located two miles 
 from the village of ^liddleburg, on the road to 
 Catskill. Here he has continued his chosen 
 work, from year to year enlarging his opera- 
 tions. 
 
 After his parents' death he came into full 
 possession of the old farm of one hundred 
 twenty acres, formerly owned by himself and 
 father together; and since the death of his 
 father he has bought and now owns three ad- 
 joining farms, including in all four hundred 
 acres. All this land, then covered by a dense 
 forest, was once the property of his grand- 
 father, David West. 
 
 In his five bee yards Mr. West has five hun- 
 dred swarms of bees, which produce annually 
 from eight to ten tons of honey. This he sells 
 in the Jeading cities of New York and New 
 PZngland at the highest market price. He has 
 made a special study throughout his life of bees 
 and their habits, and in his efforts to obtain the 
 best results from bee-keeping at the least possi- 
 ble cost he has invented and patented a spiral 
 wire cjueen-cell protector and a spiral wire 
 queen-cage, which have proved of great value. 
 Although these inventions have been before the 
 public but 3 little more than seven years, they 
 
ii6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 are in dcmaiul throughout the United States, in 
 Canada, in luigland — in fact, in all parts of 
 the world ; and he is carrying on a very substan- 
 tial business as the sole manufacturer of these 
 articles. For three successive years he was 
 chosen, and paid, to act as judge on the differ- 
 ent races of bees and of honey, bee appliances 
 and bee literature, at the New England fairs 
 held at Albany, on which occasions a large va- 
 riety of apiarian goods was displayed and large 
 jjremiunis awarded. On Jul)- i i, 1899, he 
 received the appointment of bee inspector for 
 the State of New York. 
 
 He is a Republican and a Prohibitionist in 
 politics and an active member of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church, in which he has been 
 class leader, a teacher, and the superintendent 
 of its Sunday-school. 
 
 Mr. West married June 23, 1867, Sarah A. 
 llaskin. She is a daughter of Joshua Haskin 
 and a grand-daughter of Moses and Hanah 
 (Ilait) Haskin, natives of Dutchess County. 
 Her grandparents were pioneer settlers of 
 Broome, N.Y. They reared fifteen children, 
 one of whom is yet living, Joshua. The 
 grandmother was a Ouaker in her religious be- 
 lief. Joshua Haskin was engaged in farming 
 in Hroome until 1871, when he removed to the 
 town of .Maine, Broome County, where he has 
 a fine farm of one himdred acres. Formerly 
 a Democrat in [jolitics, he has been identified 
 with the Republican party since the Rebell- 
 ion. He has served as Assessor and as Over- 
 seer of the Poor. He married Deborah A. 
 Hughson, daughter of Nicholas and Charlotte 
 (Duncan) Hughson, formerly of Broome, but 
 
 later of Norwich, Chenango County. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hughson had ten children, of whom four 
 are living, namely: Deborah A., now Mrs. 
 Haskin; Hiram Hughson; Jane, wife of John 
 DeMoney ; and Charlotte, wife of Charles M. 
 Markcl. Of the seven children born to Joshua 
 Haskin and his wife these five are living: 
 Sarah A., now INIrs. West; Edwin S. ; Gros- 
 venor ; Alice I{. , wife of Dr. Dudley; and 
 Hiram A. All except Mrs. West reside in 
 Broome County, and all, with their parents, 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 j\Ir. and Mrs. West have eight children; 
 namely, Orman, Ruth A., ICdwin H., 1-Ilma 
 A., David J., Alice C, Charles D., and Hat- 
 tie D. The four younger are still in school. 
 Orman M., a graduate of Middleburgh .Acad- 
 emy and Union College, was formerly a school 
 teacher, was graduated at the Drew Theologi- 
 cal Seminary, and is now preaching in Port 
 Colden, N.J. He married Dora Dornian, and 
 they have one son, Dorman. Ruth married 
 Delos H. Gridley, formerly a teacher, farmer, 
 and bee-keeper, later a student at Drew Theo- 
 logical Seminary, now preaching at Speeds- 
 ville, N.Y. They have one son, Vernon 
 J. Mrs. Gridley was vice-president of the 
 Women's Christian Temperance Union at 
 Madison. N.J. Edwin H. West married 
 Sophia M. Shafer. He was in his earlier 
 years a farmer, interested in bee culture, also 
 a teacher; and after his graduation from the 
 Middleburg High School he was for a time a 
 clerk in Schenectady, a position which he 
 resigned to become a member of the police 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 117 
 
 force in New York City. Klma A., formerly 
 a teacher in the public schools, is the wife of 
 Elmer II Wood, of Broome, and has one son, 
 Howard C. Mrs. West is a member of the 
 W. C. T. U. ; and she and all of her children 
 are active members of the Methodist Episcojial 
 church and of the Sunday-school, in which all 
 the elder children have been teachers. 
 
 OHN M. CONOVER, a descendant of 
 an old Dutch family of repute and a 
 representative farmer of Duanesburg, 
 Schenectady County, N.Y. , was born in Glen, 
 Montgomery County, this State, December 26, 
 1839, son of George W. and Sarah M. (Rad- 
 ley) Conover. The father was born in Elor- 
 ida, N. Y. , in 181 2, and the mother was born 
 in the same town in iSiS. The name was 
 originally Van Couwenhoven, and was short- 
 ened to its present form prior to the birth of 
 the great-grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch. Its bearers were prominent among the 
 early Dutch families, and contemporaneous 
 with the \'an Rcnsselaers, Van Beekmans, and 
 other Knickerbockers. The immigrant pro- 
 genitor was one Wolfret Garretson Van Cou- 
 wenhoven, who came from Amersfoort, in the 
 province of Utrecht, in 1630, and settled in 
 Rensselaerwyck. He was employed by the 
 Van Rensselaers as superintendent of farms for 
 si.\ years; and in June, 1636, he with others 
 purchased a large tract of land at the western 
 end of Long Island. His sons were: Gerrit, 
 Jacob, Derrick, Peter, and John. 
 
 Cornelius V. Couwenhoven, the great-great- 
 
 grandfather of Mr. Conover of Duanesburg, 
 was born in 17 10, and died in 1S04. He 
 had seven children; namel)', Jnhn, William, 
 Peter, Jacob, Jane, Abraham, and Isaac, the 
 great-grandfather. Isaac Conover was born 
 I'ebruary 1 i, 1759. He served as a soldier in 
 the Continental army during the Rex'olution- 
 ary War, and died September 21, 1845, leav- 
 ing several children, among others Marcus, the 
 grandfather, who was born in New Jersey, Oc- 
 tober II, 1786. Marcus Conover was an early 
 settler in P'lorida, N. Y. , where he engaged in 
 farming, and was a leading resident of that 
 town. His last days were spent in Illinois, 
 and he died in June, 1844. He married Sarah 
 L. Schuyler, who was born February 19, 1794, 
 and died in June, 1845. 
 
 George W. Conover, son of Marcus, was 
 reared in LTorida, N.Y,, and received his 
 business training as clerk for his uncle, John 
 J. Schulyer. Later he was admitted to part- 
 nershij), and for several years the firm carried 
 on a general store in Amsterdam, N.Y. Re- 
 lincjuishing business on account of failing 
 health, he took a protracted journey by team 
 with Funis I. Van Derveer, through Penns)l- 
 vania, C)hio, Indiana, and Illinois, passing 
 through Chicago when it was but a village, 
 and driving as far West as the Mississippi 
 River. He returned to his native State in the 
 same manner, much benefitted in health, and, 
 resuming mercantile business in Auriesville, 
 Montgomery County, he remained there until 
 1850. Selling his store, he invested in real 
 estate both in this State and the West, ami, 
 l)urchasing in 1859 '^''"-' t-'im i'l Duanesburg, 
 
Hi 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RFA^IEW 
 
 which his son now owjis, lie devoted tlic rest 
 of his active jjcriod to agricultural pursuits. 
 In jiolitics he originally acttxl with the Whigs, 
 and with the majority of that element he went 
 into the rnnks of the Republican |)arty at its 
 formation. George \V. Conovcr died in 1894. 
 ( )ii March 13, 1839, he married Sarah I\I. 
 Radley, daughter of J hn I', and Anna (Clay- 
 ton) Radley, of Florida, N.V. Her grand- 
 father, Philip Radley, was an early settler in 
 that town, and he lived to reach a good old 
 age. The Radley farm was inherited by John 
 P. Radley, who occupied it until his death, 
 which occurred November 27, 1S62, his wife 
 having died March 22, 1855. Mrs. Sarah 
 Conover is still living, and resides at the 
 homestead near the Scotch church. She 
 reared but one son, John M., the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 John M. Conover was reared antl educated 
 in Glen. .At the age of twenty-one he became 
 associated with his father in carrying on the 
 liome farm, and after his father's death the 
 farm fell to his jiossession. It is one of the 
 best pieces of agricuUui-al property in the 
 neighborhood. Me grows all kinds of grain, 
 cuts a large quantity of hay annually, raises 
 some excellent cattle and horses, and displays 
 good judgment in all his undertakings. His 
 residence and outbuildings are exceedingly 
 desirable. 
 
 On October 5, 1S64, Mr. Conover married 
 for his first wife Anna I?. Van Vechten, who 
 was born in T'loricla, N.V., December 6, 
 1845. She died March 12, 1884, leaving 
 three children, namel}- : Archie R., born Sep- 
 
 tember 23, 1866; Mabel, born May 13, 1874; 
 and lulna, born May 20, 1877. .Archie R. 
 Conover, who was graduated from Union Col- 
 lege in 1889, is now a lawyer in Amsterdam. 
 He married Jessie Dougall, and has one daugh- 
 ter, Marion. Mabel is the wife of the Rev. 
 I'". W. McKee, pastor uf the historic Scotch (or 
 Uniteel Presbyterian) Church, Florida, N.Y. ; 
 and Fdna is unmarried. On March 25, 1890, 
 Mr. Conover married for his second wife Mary 
 E. Smeallie, who was born in Princetown, 
 N.Y. , F"ebruary ig, 1846, daughter of John 
 and Jane (Milmine) Smeallie, the former of 
 whom was a native of that place. Poth par- 
 ents were born in 1816. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Conover is a Republican. 
 He has inherited many of the sterling charac- 
 teristics of hi.s race, whose thrifty and indus- 
 trious habits made possible the development of 
 the vast resources and wealth for which the 
 Empire State has long been noted, and he has 
 every reason to be proud of his origin. He is 
 a member of the United Pre.sbyterian Church 
 of Florida, N.Y. 
 
 (^Ij HOMAS J. KILMER, M.D., the well- 
 e j| known physician of Schoharie, N.\'., 
 was born in Cobleskill, this county, November 
 22, 1833, son of Daniel and Maria (Shaffer) 
 Kilmer. He is of German extraction, and a 
 representat i\'e of the third generation of his 
 family in this country, being the grandson of 
 John I. Kilmer, a native of Germany, who 
 settled in Cobleskill as a pioneer. 
 
 John 1. Kilmer acquired a tract of lanil con- 
 
T. J. KILMKK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 taining live hundred acres, a considerable por- 
 tion of which he cleared for agricultural pur- 
 poses. Commencing his farm life in a log- 
 house, he later built a frame dwelling near the 
 village of Barnerville; and through energy 
 and perseverance he became one of the most 
 prosperous farmers of Schoharie County in his 
 day. Possessing intellectual powers of a high 
 order, which had been developed by a good 
 education, he became the owner of a large 
 library, and fostered his desire for knowledge 
 by continued reading. J-Seing of a religious 
 turn of mind, he unitetl with the Lutheran 
 church, and for years was one of its most ac- 
 tive members. He lived to be ninety years 
 old. He had a family of si.x children. 
 
 Daniel Kilmer, the Doctor's father, was a 
 lifelong resident of Cobleskill ; and, succeed- 
 ing to the ownership of some three hundred 
 acres of the homestead property, he became 
 successful as a general farmer. He was pro- 
 gressive as well as energetic, and not only kept 
 up with the times in the way of agricultural 
 improvements, but aitled in developing his 
 neighborhood by the erection of buildings. 
 His ability and sound judgment necessarily 
 made him an influential factor in public 
 affairs, and he rendered eflficient service to the 
 town as Supervisor for some time. He died 
 at the age of fifty years. His wife, Maria, 
 was a daughter of John I. Shaffer, who at one 
 time owned the land which is now occupied b}' 
 the village of Cobleskill. She became the 
 mother of thirteen children, of whom eleven 
 are living, namely: Augustus; Josiah ; Mar- 
 garet, wife of Elijah Griffin; Daniel A.; 
 
 Thomas J., the subject of this .sketch; An- 
 drew G. ; Sylvester A. ; Chauncey C. ; Jonas 
 M. ; Aurelia, who married Napoleon Pal- 
 matier; and Delia, wife of David I. Boock — 
 all of whom reside in this State. Mrs. Maria 
 S. Kilmer li\ed to be eighty-three years old. 
 The parents were members of the Lutheran 
 church. 
 
 Thomas J. Kilmer acquiied a common-school 
 education in his native town, and subsecpiently 
 taught two terms of school in Cobleskill. He 
 assisted in carrying on the home farm for a 
 time prior to entering upon his medical 
 studies, wdiicb were begun at Port Crane under 
 his brother's direction. He was graduated 
 from the Plclectic Medical College, New York 
 Cit\', in 1874, and was afterward associated 
 with his brother stjmc seven years, at the expi- 
 ration of wdiich he came to Schoharie, where 
 he practised successfully until 18S8. Estab- 
 lishing the Kilmer Sanitarium, he continued 
 in charge of that institution until failing 
 health caused him to withdraw fiom its man- 
 agement in 1893. His success at the sanita- 
 rium, where patients are received from every 
 part of the State, has given him a witle repu- 
 tation as a skilful physician. Besides attend- 
 ing to his jjrivate practice, which is the larg- 
 est in town, he prejjares several effective 
 remedies which have a large sale. 
 
 In 1854 Dr. Kilmer was united in marriage 
 with Elmina Pnlmitier, a nati\-e of this town, 
 daughter of John II. Palmitier. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Kilmer have had four children — Josiah, Ira 
 P., Julia S , and Herbert. The last-named is 
 no longer living. Josiah and Julia S. reside 
 
122 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 at home witli their parents. Ira V. mariied 
 Joan Nethavvay, and has two cliilihen — Strat- 
 ton and Mina. Herbert, who was a railroad 
 man, left a widow and four ehildren — Ardaii, 
 Noah, Josiah, and Herbert. 
 
 Dr. Kilmer is a member of the Schoharie 
 and Delaware Count}' Eclectic Medical So- 
 ciety, of wliich for three )ears he has been a 
 censor. He likewise belongs to the Masonic 
 order. He was formerly a Deacon and a class 
 leader of the Methodist I-'piscojial church at 
 Port Crane, and the family are members of the 
 same religious denomination in Schoharie. 
 
 ff?)TAMAN P. PETTINGILL, of the firm 
 of Malcolm & Co., woollen manufac- 
 turers, Catskill, N.Y. , was born in 
 P'liirida, Montgomery Count)-, this .State, on 
 September 25, 1.S47, 'i'-'^ parents being David 
 and Jeannette (McNee) Pettingill. His 
 father's family is of English descent. 
 
 David Pettingill, who was born and reared 
 in the Mohawk \'alle)', was one of the original 
 liromoters of the I'jie Canal, and rode on the 
 first boat that passed over the waters of the 
 canal after its completion. He carried on 
 farming to some extent, and also was engaged 
 in mercantile business in Amsterdam. He 
 spent his last years in Amsterdam, his death 
 occurring there at the age of sevenl\-three. 
 His wife, Jeannette, w-as one of a family of 
 ten children. .She was born in Schenectady 
 County, this State. Her father, James Mc- 
 Nee, was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. Im- 
 migrating to this country, he lived lor a time 
 
 in .Schenectadv County, and later in Montgom- 
 ery County. He died in Montgomery Countv 
 at eighty-eight years of age. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Maxwell, was of Scottish 
 descent. David and Jeannette (McNee) Pet- 
 tingill had eight children, namely: Agnes; 
 Mary A., who is now Mrs. Millmine; Will- 
 iam; Peter; lilla, who is now Mrs. Hager- 
 man ; Harnan ; Louisa, now Mrs. Millmine; 
 and Anna. The mother of these children died 
 at the age of sixty-three. I^oth she and her 
 husband were members of the Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 llaman Pettingill attended the public 
 schools until he was eighteen years of -age, 
 when he began learning the machinist's trade, 
 lie subsequently worked at his trade as a jour- 
 neyman in Amsterdam, and later in West Al- 
 bany at the locomotive works, and after that 
 was seven years a knitter in the knitting-mill 
 at Amsterdam. In 1882 he became a partner 
 of Joseph Malcolm, a sketch of whom may be 
 found in this work. The two men carried on 
 a woollen-mill in Amsterdam for a time, and 
 then removed to Catskill, the present compau)- 
 being formed. Mr. Pettingill has charge of 
 the machinery, which has all the latest im- 
 provements. The firm manufacture men's, 
 women's, antl childien's underwear, e\'ery 
 piece jn'oduced bearing their special trade- 
 mark. This maik is known to all experienced 
 buyers as belonging onl\' to a good class of 
 garments. About a lumdred and sevent)' 
 hands are employed. 
 
 Mr. Pettingill has been twice mairied. 
 The maiden name of his first wife, who was 
 
STEl'lIEX L. MAllA.M. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 125 
 
 bom in New York, was Margaret Morehead. 
 They were married in 1877, and she died at 
 the age of thirty-one. His present wife, 
 whose maiden name was Isabel Lusk, was born 
 in Coxsackie, being the daughter of Gilbert 
 and Elizabeth Lusk. Mr. Lusk was for many 
 years one of the well-known merchants of Cox- 
 sackie, and later of Catskill. Of the second 
 union one child has been born, Charlotte. 
 
 Mr. Pettingill is a member of Catskill 
 Lodge of Masons, No. 468. In politics he is 
 a Republican. He is a member and trustee of 
 the Presbyterian church, and Mrs. Pettingill 
 is a communicant of the Episcopal church. 
 
 7?)T0N. STEPHEN L. MAYHAM, of. 
 Schoharie, former Presiding Justice 
 fA the Supreme Court, General 
 Term, Third Department, and an ex-member 
 of Congress, was born in Blenheim, N.Y. , Oc- 
 tober 8, 1826, son of John and Betsey (P'ergu- 
 son) Mayham. He represents the third gener- 
 ation of the family founded by his grandfather, 
 Henry Mayham, who emigrated from Ireland 
 in 1790. 
 
 Acquiring a tract of four hundred acres of 
 wiUl land, which embraced the site now occu_ 
 pied by West Troy, N.Y. , and the Watervliet 
 Arsenal, Henry Mayham cleared a portion for 
 agricultural purposes and sold the remainder. 
 He died at the age of ninety-three. His 
 wife's family name was Welch. 
 
 John Mayham, son of Henry, was a native 
 of West Troy. Locating in Blenheim when a 
 young man, he spent the rest of his life as a 
 
 prosperous farmer, his death occurring at the 
 age of sixty-five years. He took an active in- 
 terest in political and religious matters, with- 
 out aspiring to office, although he consented to 
 serve as Supervisor, and faithfully performed 
 the duties of that ofifice for several terms. He 
 was highly respected by the entire community. 
 His intellectual attainments enabled him as a 
 public speaker forcibly to discuss the impor- 
 tant issues of the day. He married Betsey 
 Ferguson, daughter of John P'crguson. Her 
 father was a native of Scotland. Coming to 
 this countr}-, he settled at Pine Plains and 
 later removed to Delaware County, where he 
 died at an advanced age. John Mayham and 
 his wife were the parents of twelve children, 
 eleven of whom, seven sons and four daugh- 
 ters, grew to maturit)-. Five sons became 
 professional men. Thomas Mayham, M. D., is 
 now Mayor of Fond du Lac, Wis. ; another son, 
 who was a physician, died in that .State; a 
 third was County Judge of Fond du Lac, and is 
 no longer living; Stephen L. is the subject 
 of this sketch; and the youngest son. Banks, 
 who became a noted lawyer in Southern Illi- 
 nois, died suddenly at Murphysboro, 111. The 
 mother lived to be sixty years old. 
 
 Stephen L. Mayham grew to manhood in 
 Blenheim. As a youth he assisted in cultivat- 
 ing tlie home farm when not pursuing his 
 studies, and a local biographer has fittingly 
 said that his education was accjuireti with a 
 book in one hand and a plough-handle in the 
 other. At the age of eighteen he started in 
 life as a district school teacher. Two years 
 later he entered the law office of Samuel Jack- 
 
126 
 
 B I OG R A I^ H R " A L R FA' I FA\' 
 
 son, who ;it that time was ](jcatcd in (lilboa, 
 and afterward became Justice of the Supreme 
 Court for the Fourth Judicial District. His 
 legal preparations were completed in the ofifice 
 of Love & Freer, Ithaca, N.Y. ; and after his 
 admission to the bar, in 1S48, he l^egan the 
 practice of his [irofession in l^lenheini. His 
 ability as counsellor and attorney raiiidly as- 
 serted itself, with the result that he soon found 
 himself in control of a large general law busi- 
 ness. His many qualifications, not the least 
 among which was liis personal ]io|ndarity, 
 made him espccialh' eligible to public office; 
 and he was not long jiermittcd b)- his fellow- 
 townsmen to devote his whole time to his pri- 
 vate affairs. 
 
 He .served as Superintendent of Schools two 
 years and as Supervisor three years; was 
 elected District Attorney in 1859 by a large 
 majority, and held office two years. In the 
 fall of 1862 he was elected to the Assembly. 
 In 1866 he accepted as a forlorn hope the 
 Democratic nomination for State .Senator from 
 the l-'ifteenth District, comjirising the counties 
 of Schenectady, Schoharie, and Delaware; 
 and, although realizing his expected defeat, he 
 had the satisfaction of reducing the Republican 
 majority. In 186S he was elected to the 
 Forty-first Congress in the Congressional dis- 
 trict comprising Albany and Schoharie 
 Counties, and in 1878 was elected Representa- 
 tive to the I-'ort)-fifth Congress from the 
 Thirteenth District, including the counties of 
 Schoharie, (}reene, and Ulster. During his 
 first term he served upon the Committees on 
 Private Land Claims and the L.xiienditures of 
 
 the State and Post-office Departments. In the 
 Forty-fifth Congress he was assigned to the 
 Committees on the District of Columbia and 
 State Department Expenditures, and was chair- 
 man of the Subcommittee on Ways and 
 Means. His committee work in Ijotii sessions 
 was laborious and efficient, and his record in 
 the national House of Representatives was 
 irreproachable. In 1883 he was elected 
 County Judge and Surrogate of Schoharie 
 County, a position which he held until aji- 
 pointed bv Governor Hill to a seat upon the 
 Supreme Pench ; and in X"\eniber, 1887, the 
 peo]jle ratified the (iovernor's choice by elect- 
 ing him for a full term. His decisions, which 
 are carefully conceived, have been in perfect 
 accord with legal requirements and generally 
 sustained by the Court of Apjieals. 
 
 Since 1862 the Judge has resideil in 
 Schoharie. He was president of the Poard of 
 Public Education for eight years, and was the 
 first president of the Schoharie Valley Rail- 
 road Company. Judge Mayham's scholarly 
 attainments and aljility as a public siieaker 
 have added mucli to his [xipularit}-, which ex- 
 tends far beyond the limits of his own county. 
 Since his retirement from the bench he ha.s 
 been associated with his son Claude at Scho- 
 harie in the active jiractice of his profession, 
 and is often called upon to act as referee in 
 important cases, his judicial experience having 
 eminenlh' qualified him for such position. 
 
 Judge Mayham married Julia Martin, a 
 grand-daughter of Ceneral Frcegift Patch in, 
 who served in the Continental Army during 
 the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Mayham died 
 
RIOGRArHK'AL REVIEW 
 
 n 
 
 in 1895, aged sixty-four yenrs. She was the 
 mother of three sons, F. Matt, Don S., 
 Claude ]1, and one daughter, Ida L. , who is 
 now the wife of George Manschaffer, of this 
 town. F. Matt Mayham was a prominent 
 lawyer. He died in Schoharie in 1889, aged 
 thirty-nine years. Don S. Mayham studied 
 law with his father; and, after serving for a 
 time as clerk of the Surrogate Court, he en- 
 tered the Albany Law School, from which he 
 was graduated in 1888. He was admitted to 
 the bar the same year, and practised with his 
 elder brother until the latter's decease, when 
 he entered into partnership with his younger 
 brother. He was a Democrat in politics, and 
 served as clerk of the State Senate in 1892. 
 He married Mary V>. l^orst, daughter of 
 Thomas Borst and grand-daughter of Ralph 
 Brewster, a prominent la\\\er of this locality 
 in his day. Dying in June, 1896, at the age 
 of thirty-three years, Don S. Mayham left one 
 son, Stephen L. Mayham, second. Claude B. 
 Mayham was born in Schoharie in 1868. His 
 early education was completed at the Schoharie 
 Academy, where he taught for two years, and 
 began the study of law with his brother. He 
 was graduated from Columbia College in the 
 class of 1 89 1, with the degrees of Bachelor 
 of Laws and Bachelor of Philosophy, and 
 was associated with Don S. ALayham until 
 1896. For a short time he was in partner- 
 .ship with Lyman S. Holmes, of Cobleskill, 
 in Schoharie. While in college he was an 
 all-round athlete and captain of the base- 
 ball team. He was also president of the lead- 
 ing literary society and a member of the Delta 
 
 L^psilon fraternity, and he sang in the Glee 
 Club. He takes a leading part in the literary 
 and musical matters in Schoharie, and is one 
 of the most popular young men in town. 
 
 ISRAEL P. UTTP:R, a leading farmer 
 and representative citizen of Oak Hill, 
 Greene County, was born in this town, 
 on a farm near his present residence, on the 
 second day of December, 1829. He is a son 
 of Bani Utter, and grandson of James, the an- 
 cestor of the Utter famil)- of this county. 
 
 James Litter was born in the State of Con- 
 necticut. He came among the earl)' settlers 
 to this section of New York, took up land, and 
 built a log cabin, in which he lived for a num- 
 ber of years. Shortly before his removal from 
 Connecticut, he had served in the Continental 
 army in the Revolution. His wife, whose 
 name was Hannah, was born in Spencer, Conn. 
 She came on horseback through the wilds, he 
 walking beside her. Of the eight children 
 born to her, none are living. She died at the 
 advanced age of ninety-five, and her husband 
 died at the age of ninety-three. Both were 
 lifelong Presbyterians. 
 
 Bani Utter, above named, was born in Oak 
 Hill, not far from where his son now lives, 
 and sjient his whole life here. He helped his 
 father build a saw-mill. This mill was car- 
 ried away by rising waters, and he subse- 
 quently built another, which he operated for 
 many years. He engaged in farming on the 
 farm where he was born, and he helped to 
 build the old Utter house, which, jjrevious to 
 
r28 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 
 
 its destruction 1)\- fire in 1S94, was one of the 
 landmarks of the place. Bani Utter died in 
 the old house at the age of seventy-four. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Cynthia Stan- 
 nard, was the daugiiter of Eliakim Stannard, 
 who was a pioneer settler in Durham, N. Y. , 
 cominj,' from Connecticut. She died at 
 seventy-eight years of age. Of her ten chil- 
 dren, Alfred, Ruth, and L)man are deceased. 
 Alfred was a soldier in the Ci\il War, and 
 lost his life while in service. The living 
 children are: Julia, now Mrs. W'hitmorc; Is- 
 rael; Louisa, now Mrs. Taylor; Almeran ; 
 Eliakim; Adelaide; and Addison. Both par- 
 ents were Methodists. 
 
 Israel Utter in his hoyhood attended the 
 common schools of his nati\e town, and when 
 not occujiied with his lessons helped his father 
 on the farm. Later he woiked on the farm on 
 shares for a time, but eventually he purchased 
 the farm adjoining the one where he now lives. 
 After ha\ing operated that successfully for a 
 nundier of years, he bought his present place 
 anti built his handsome residence and the other 
 buildings. All these are thoroughly well 
 built, and the barns and outbuildings are 
 thoroughly equii)|)ed for carrying on farming 
 in accordance with the latest and most ap- 
 ]"iroved methods. Mr. Utter now owns the two 
 farms, embracing about two hundred and si.xty 
 acres. lie devotes his time chiefly to dairy- 
 ing, making butter for the New York markets. 
 
 Mr. Utter's marriage took place in 1855, 
 his wife being Caroline, the daughter of Jacob 
 and Hannah (Niles) Tompkins. M|-. Tomp- 
 kins spent his life on a farm in this town, and 
 
 died here at the age of si.Nt\'-four. He and his 
 wife were prominent members of the Meth- 
 odist church, and he held numerous official 
 i:)ositions in the church. Mrs. Tompkins, who 
 was born in Coeymans, N. Y., lived to be 
 ninety-three )ears of age. Of the children 
 born to her, the following-named are living: 
 Mary, who married Rufus Gifford; Ann, who 
 married James Gifford; William, who is in 
 California; Sarah, who married Alexander 
 Lounsbur\' ; Mrs. Utter, who was born on 
 June 12, 1834; Libbv, the wife of I'hilo 
 Wicks; and Niles Tompkins, who resides on 
 the Tompkins farm. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Utter have had two children, 
 one of whom died in inf:incy. Their daughter 
 Alice married Elwin Haskins, onl)' son of 
 farmer Henry Haskins of this town. She has 
 five children — Dora, Utter, Henr\', Edison, 
 and I'aul — all of them being now in school. 
 
 In politics Mr. Utter is a Republican, as 
 was his father before him. He takes not onl_\- 
 a warm interest, but an active part in all mat- 
 ters pertaining to the welfare of the town. 
 For nine yeais he was an Assessor, being three 
 times re-elected, and for one year he was 
 chairman of tlie Board. In iS.Si and 18S2 he 
 was Supervisor of the town. l"or thirty-five 
 years he has Ijeen a member of the Methodist 
 church, and for the past thirty \e;us he has 
 been (Hie of its trustees, a steward, and class 
 leader. The .Sunday-school has always had 
 his warm and earnest support, and lie has been 
 both teacher and superintendent. His wife 
 ;md daughter have a'so been workeis in both 
 church and .Sunday-school, and the latter lias 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEW 
 
 129 
 
 sung in the choir and played the organ. Mr. 
 Utter is one of the most esteemed citizens of 
 his town. 
 
 AMI'^S S. STALEY, a prosperous farmer 
 of Sharon Springs, was born in Flor- 
 ida, N. v., March 20, 1825, son of 
 Henry I. and Sarah B. (McDonald) Staley. 
 His maternal ancestors were Irish Protestants, 
 and his mother came to America when she was 
 four years old. The Staleys are of Dutch 
 origin, and the name was originally spelled 
 Stael. The first Stael, or Staley, in America, 
 settled in P'lorida, when that section of the 
 State was mostly a wilderness, and he resided 
 there for the rest of his life. His wife's peo- 
 ple, who came from Germany to New Jersey, 
 sold her for a sum sufficient to pay for their 
 passage over, and he worked to purchase her 
 freedom. 
 
 Jacob Staley, James S. Staley's grandfather, 
 was a lifelong resident of Florida, and fol- 
 lowed general farming during his acti\e years. 
 He had a family of si.x children, including 
 tienry, Valentine, Oliver, Betsey, and two 
 other daughters. Betsey became .Mrs. Blood. 
 Valentine and Henry succeeded to the owner- 
 ship of the homestead, which contained about 
 two hundred acres. Valentine afterward moved 
 to Genesee, N. Y. Both the grandparents and 
 great-grandparents were members of the Dutch 
 Reformed church. 
 
 Henry I. Staley, James S. Staley's father, 
 was reared at the homestead in Florida. Pur- 
 chasing his brother's interest, he cultivated 
 the property for a number of years. Selling 
 
 to his brother-in-law, Mr. Blood, and cominc: 
 to Sharon Springs in 1833, he bought the J. 
 Cady farm of one hundred and fifty acres, 
 which he occupied until his death. He was a 
 well-known stock-raiser, owned good horses, 
 and was noted as an excellent judge of these 
 animals. In politics he was a Democrat. 
 Henry I. Staley died in 1S70. He was the 
 father of ten children; namely, Jacob, Valen- 
 tine, Fanny, Ann Eliza, William H., John, 
 James S., Robert, Sarah, and Ale.xander. 
 Fanny, William H., John, Robert, and Sarah 
 are no longer living. Valentine resides at 
 Sharon Springs; Alexander occupies the home- 
 stead; Ann Eliza is the widow of William 
 Othman, late of Cobleskill, N. Y. ; and Sarah 
 was the wife of Peter Spraker. 
 
 James S. Staley was fitted for college at the 
 Ames Academy, but was prevented from jnn-- 
 suing a classical course by an accident which 
 seriously affected his eyesight. He was how- 
 ever, enabled to turn his attention to educa- 
 tional pursuits, and after teaching in the dis- 
 trict schools of this locality for twelve years 
 he went to New York City, where for four 
 years he liad full charge of Leake and Watts 
 Orphans' School, having the aid of three assis- 
 tants. That position he was forced to resign 
 in order to undergo treatment for his eyes. 
 Having spent nine months under the care of 
 a skilful specialist, he returned to Sharon 
 Springs. He continued to teach school until 
 1858, when he purchased the Hunt farm, 
 which contains about ninety acres and was for- 
 merly a part of his brother \'alentine's prop- 
 erty. He was at one time quite extensively 
 
13° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 engaged in raising hops, but now devotes his 
 attention to general and dairy farming and 
 fruit-growing. Me acquired considerable 
 prominence in public affairs during his 
 younger days, serving as Sui)erintendent of 
 Schools three years. Commissioner of High- 
 ways two terms. Railroad Commissioner three 
 years, and Supervisor one year. 
 
 Mr. Staley married Ann E. Hodge, of the 
 town of Canajoharie, daughter of Isaac G. 
 Hodge. Her father was formerly a well- 
 known figure in public affairs, and a leatiing 
 member (jf the Methodist church, which he 
 helped to organize. His family consisted of 
 four sons and seven daughters. The daughters 
 were all graduated from the Ames Academy 
 and ciualitietl to teach. Mrs. Staley taught 
 school for some years before marriage. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Staley have one son, George E. He 
 married Alinnie .Snyder, daughter of Nathan 
 Snyder, and has two children — Earl and May. 
 
 Mr. Staley belonged to a lodge of Odd Fel- 
 lows that disbanded many years ago, and he 
 has never joined another. He is a member of 
 the Methodist Episcojial church, in which he 
 has served as steward, class leader, and in 
 other capacities. He is now a trustee, and 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school, and a 
 well-known worker in the cause of religion, 
 temiierance, and morality. 
 
 VcA;MI'I'1-'\M SALSHI'KGH, a prosper- 
 
 V?V^ ""^ agriculturist of Il)'n(ls\ille, in 
 
 the town of .Seward, .Schoharie Count\-, was 
 
 born in Wright, N.Y., October 22, 1^35, in 
 
 the same house in which his father, the late 
 I'hili]i Salsbergh, first opened his eyes to the 
 light of this world. He is of German ances- 
 try, being a great-grandson of Jacob Sals- 
 bergh, who emigrated from Germany to this 
 country when a xoung man. 
 
 Jacob .Salsbergh located in the town of 
 Wright as one of its original settlers, ami took 
 u]) a homestead of three hundred acres. At 
 the time he reared his log cabin in the little 
 opening which he first made in the forest, 
 there were no paths excepting the Indian 
 trails, and the redskins and the wild beasts 
 were his onl\' companions. His wife, Win- 
 ney, who lived to the remarkable age of one 
 hundred and one years, was born in Germany, 
 where she spent the first si.xteen years of her 
 life. She came to ^America then, jxior in 
 pocket, and for six years after her arrival in 
 Fishkill, X. v., worked to jjay for her p.assage 
 across the ocean. 
 
 John .Salsbergh, the grandfather of William, 
 was born in the little log house in the town of 
 Wright in which his parents made their home, 
 and on attaining his majority was given pos- 
 session of a jjortion of the original farm. He 
 there carried on agricultural iiursuits until 
 well advanced in years, when he came to 
 Seward, where he died at the ripe old age of 
 eighty-four. His wite, Margaret .Sternbergh, 
 died at the age of fourscore years. Both were 
 members of the Reformed church. 
 
 Their son, l'hili|) .Salsbergh, was one of a 
 faniiU' of eleven children, all of whom w-ere 
 brought up on the home farm, and educated in 
 the disliict school. He inherited a portion of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 131 
 
 the estate, and was engaged in tilling the soil 
 until 1840, when he removed to Seward, and, 
 buying a farm, continued his chosen vocation 
 until his death, at the age of eighty-five years. 
 He was held in high respect as a man and a 
 citizen, and was particularly active in manage- 
 ment of the affairs of the Reformed church, in 
 which he held all the offices. He married 
 Catherine Woolford. Uf the ten children 
 born into their household, eight are now liv- 
 ing, as follows: Margaret, widow of Gilbert 
 Shank; Rebecca W. , wife of Ira Frazier; 
 John T. ; Catherine M., widow of Christian 
 Markley; William, the subject of this brief 
 sketch; Allen; Jemima, wife of Harlem 
 Southworth ; and Amanda, wife of John Mark- 
 ley. The mother passed to the life immortal 
 at the age of seventy-eight years. 
 
 William Salsbergh received a common- 
 school education, and until his marriage 
 worked on his father's farm. He then bought 
 his present farm of eighty-seven acres. By 
 dint of persevering labor and the exercise of 
 good judgment he has made of it one of the 
 finest-improved estates in this locality. The 
 farm buildings are substantial and well 
 adapted to the [nnposes for which they were 
 erected. He carries on general farming with 
 profitable results, each season raising good 
 crops of hay and hops. At the Schoharie 
 County Fair he has taken premiums for his ex- 
 hibits. In politics he is a steadfast Re[nibli- 
 can. He is interested in all enterprises tend- 
 ing to benefit the town or county, but has 
 never been an aspirant for public office. He 
 is a liberal supporter of the Methodist Episco- 
 
 pal church, of which he has been an active 
 member for years, and has served faithfully as' 
 trustee and class leader. He has also been 
 identified with its Sunday-school, of which he 
 has been superintendent a nimiber of terms. 
 
 On July 2, 1856, Mr. Salsbergh married 
 Kmeline Van Tyle, who was born in Seward, 
 one of the five children of Daniel R. and Han- 
 nah (Guernsey) Van Tyle, her father a promi- 
 nent farmer, one of the most highly esteemed 
 citizens of Richmondville. Mr. and Mrs. 
 .Salsbergh have one child, a daughter Elva. 
 She is married to Luther Brumaguem, and has 
 four children — Stewart, Arthur, Ernest, and 
 Floyd. By a former marriage to Lawyer O. 
 Strander, Mrs. FAva Brumaguem has a son 
 William. He has been adopted by his grand- 
 father Salsbergh, and is now known as Will- 
 iam Salsbergh, Jr. 
 
 'rslICHAEL O'HARA, farmer and 
 boarding-house keeper at Tanners- 
 ville, N.Y., was born at Croton 
 Landing, town of White Plains, Westchester 
 County, N.Y. , February 7, 1850. His par- 
 ents were John and Julia (Travers) O'Hara, 
 his father a native of West Meath County, Ire- 
 land, and his mother of Queen's County. His 
 grandfather, Henry O'Hara, who was a farmer, 
 spent his entire life in Ireland. 
 
 John O'Hara came to America when about 
 twenty years of age, arriving here during the 
 construction of the Hudson River Railroad. 
 He located at Croton Landing, and followed 
 the trade of a brick-maker, which he had 
 
lUOGRAl'HlCAL REVIEW 
 
 learned in ]-"nglancl. At the end of twenty- 
 five years he removed from Croton Landing to 
 Haines Falls, settling on a farm of one hun- 
 dred and fifty acres. During his latter years 
 he conducted a boarding-house. Politically, he 
 was a Democrat. He died at the age of si.xty- 
 nine. His wife, Julia, and four of their six 
 children; namely, Henry, Michael, William, 
 and Rosa, are still living, all residents of this 
 town. The other two children were Julia and 
 Mary. 
 
 Michael O'Hara came to Haines Falls with 
 his parents when si.x years of age, and was 
 educateil in the common schools. At the age 
 of sixteen he went to work on a farm, continu- 
 ing there until his marriage in 1878, when he 
 purchased a small farm of two acres, on w-hich 
 he now lives. He erected all of the buildings 
 here, and soon began to take summer boarders. 
 The house is located one mile from Tanners- 
 ville, on the road to Haines Falls, and is 
 about the same distance from the latter place. 
 It is called Tannersville Cottage, is situated 
 on an elevation twenty-two hundred feet above 
 sea level, and commands a view of the sur- 
 rounding country. There are accommodations 
 for thirty people, the rooms being usual!}- oc- 
 cupied during the entire season. 
 
 In 187S Mr. O'Hara married Mi.ss Flla T. 
 Haskins, a native of Hunter, daugher of John 
 and Mary (]\IcGinley) Haskins. Her father, 
 who was a native of Ireland, came to America 
 when a young man, and locating at Jewett en- 
 gaged in farming in connection with the tan- 
 ner's trade. He died there at the age of 
 eighty-two. Mr. and Mrs. Haskins had a 
 
 family of twelve children, six of whom are liv- 
 ing; namely, Rosa, Mary, Elizabeth, Cather- 
 ine, Jane, and Ella T. (Mrs. O'Hara). The 
 mother died at fifty years of age. Mr. and 
 Mrs. O'Hara have three children — Herbert, 
 Mary Amelia, and John. 
 
 ]\rr. O'Hara is a Democrat in i)olitics. He 
 has been on the Town Committee several 
 years, serving as chairman part of the time, 
 was a member of the County Committee a 
 number of years, and a delegate to the Con- 
 gressional Convention in 1S9S. He was Com- 
 missioner of Highways six years, being first 
 elected in 1893, re-elected in 1894 for two 
 years, again in 1896, and serving until 1898. 
 The family attend the Catholic church, in 
 which they are actively interested. Mr. 
 O'Hara has served as a trustee, was a member 
 of the building committee, and contributes 
 liberally toward its support. He believes that 
 one of the best methods of educating his chil- 
 dren is by providing them with good books, 
 and his home contains a well-selected library. 
 Mr. O'Hara at one time owned the Hunter 
 Turnpike, which w^as later .sold to the town of 
 Hunter and is now^ a free road. 
 
 OHX A. GORDON, a prominent farmer 
 anil business man residing in Carlisle, 
 Schoharie County, was born in Root, 
 N. Y. , February 20, 1840, son of Charles and 
 Mary (Lyker) Gordon. The family is of 
 Scotch origin. 
 
 Mr. Gordon's grandfather, William Gordon, 
 came to New York from New Jerse\' in 1802. 
 

 JOHN A. CORDON. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 135 
 
 Settling upon a tract of wild land in the town 
 of Root, containing ninety-six acres, he cleared 
 a good farm, upon which he resided for the rest 
 of his life. He served as a soldier in the War 
 of 1812, and for many years afterward he took 
 an active part in military affairs. His chil- 
 dren were: David; James; Peter; John; 
 Charles; Gilbert; William, who died young; 
 Lydia; Margaret. Six of his sons became 
 prosperous farmers in this State and reared 
 families. Gilbert Gordon was a physician, 
 and for a number of years practised his profes- 
 sion in Newark. 
 
 Charles Gordon, the father of John A., was 
 a native of New Jersey. Removing to Root 
 with his father and the other members of the 
 family at about the age of thirteen j'ears, he 
 assisted in improving the homestead, which 
 eventually came into his possession. He dealt 
 quite extensively in cattle and sheep, sent 
 large quantities of wheat to the Albany 
 market, and was known as one of the most en- 
 terprising and successful farmers of his day. 
 At the time of his death, which occurretl June 
 22, 1880, at the age of ninety-one years, he 
 was one of the largest land-owners in town, 
 his estate comprising six hundred acres. In 
 politics he was a Democrat, but took no part 
 in [lublic affairs beyond casting his vote. He 
 was an active member of the Dutch Reformed 
 church. His wife, Mary, became the mother 
 of nine children, seven of whom lived to ma- 
 turity, namely: Margaret; Gertrude; James 
 H. ; Louisa; Elizabeth; John A., the subject 
 of this sketch ; and Jane. Margaret married 
 Charles Grantier, and is no longer living; 
 
 Gertrude is the widow of Benjamin Albautrh, 
 and resides in Carlisle; Louisa married Will- 
 iam Colyer, and lives in Root; and Jane is the 
 wife of Lorenzo Gardinier, of Root. Mrs. 
 Mary L. Gordon died September 16, 1868. 
 
 John A. Gordon was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools of his native town. He resided 
 at the parental home until his marriage, when 
 he settled upon a farm of one hundred and ten 
 acres in Carlisle given him by his father. He 
 has since occupied a prominent place among 
 the leading agriculturists of this town. He 
 has increased his estate by purchasing more 
 land from time to time, being now the owner 
 of about three hundred acres, which he devotes 
 to general farming. Although hop culture is 
 largely carried on by the farmers of this local- 
 ity, he has never engaged in it, as he considers 
 the dairy business far more stable; and he 
 realizes excellent results in that branch of 
 agriculture. He owns a blacksmith shop and 
 hardware store, was originally one of the prin- 
 cipal stockholders in the cheese factory, and is 
 now the sole owner. He also owns some valu- 
 able real estate in Argusville. As a public- 
 spirited citizen, he takes a lively interest in 
 all movements calculated to promote the gen-, 
 eral prosperity of the town. 
 
 Mr. Gordon married for his first wife Annah 
 E., daughter of Martin Gardinier. She bore 
 him three children, namely: Minnie, a gradu- 
 ate of the Clinton Liberal Institute, now 
 organist at the Methodist Episcopal church; 
 Ostrom, who died at the age of five years; and 
 another child, who died in infancy. Minnie 
 Gordon was married on October 26, 1898, to 
 
^3'o 
 
 I'.IOCRAI'IIICAI, REVIF.W 
 
 Henry Iv Tcrbusb, a wagon- maker of Carlisle 
 village. l'"or his second wife Mr. Gordon 
 married Sarah ]■]. Hill, daughter of Bradford 
 Hill, a ])r(iniinent man of this section of the 
 count)-. I'Miiyd !!., the only child born of 
 this union, was drowned at the age of nine 
 years. 
 
 A Democrat, but not an active politician, 
 Mr. Gordon has rendered good .service to the 
 toivn ill a jnihlic cajiacit)', ha\ing filled the 
 offices of Assessor and Trustee of the School 
 District, and having acted as a Justice of the 
 Peace for the past ten years. He is president 
 of the Cemetery Association, was the first 
 Master and is now a Trustee of Argusville 
 Grange, No. 297, Patrons of Husbandry. He 
 is officially connected with the Methodist 
 l-Ipiscopal clunch, of which his wife and 
 daufrhter arc members. 
 
 "ClTnVlN 1.. b"()Rl), M.D. , a prominent 
 
 J ph\'sician of Lexington, N.Y'., and 
 
 a veteran of the Civil War, was born on the 
 farm where he now resides October 13, 1842, 
 son of David and Abigail (Faulkner) Ford. 
 His paternal graudfalher, Joel b'uid, who was 
 a nati\'e of Connecticut, came to Le.\ington 
 with LUi ox-team, biinging his wife and three 
 children, and making his way by the aid of 
 marked trees. He began life here in a log 
 cabin, and after clearing a tract of land built 
 a frame house. He was the father of thirteen 
 children, none of whom are living. 
 
 Da\id I'ord, the Doctor's father, was a 
 
 musician. He was the organizer and for fifty 
 years the leader of Ford's String Hand, and 
 was familiarly known as "Uncle Dave." In 
 l)olitics he was a Democrat, and served as Ta.x 
 Collector and Constable. He resided on the 
 farm now occupied by his son, ami died at the 
 age of eighty. His wife, Abigail, was a 
 daughter of William I-'aulkner, an English- 
 man. Her father was a shoemaker and farmer, 
 and was prominenth' identified with political 
 affairs, having been elected to Congress. 
 Mrs. Abigail Ford died at the age of thirty- 
 seven. She was the mother of three children, 
 two of whom are li\ing, namely: Fdvvin L. , 
 the subject of this sketch; and Jeanette, who 
 married John P. Millci', of Jewett. The par- 
 ents were members of the Pajnist church. 
 
 Edwin L. Ford siient his bo)hood and xouth 
 in assisting his father, and also in working by 
 the month on farms near his home. In 1S62 
 he enli.sted as a jjrivate in Com])any F, One 
 Hundred and Twentieth Regiment, New York 
 Volunteers, for service in the Civil War. 
 Among the engagements in whicli he took part 
 were the battles of Chancellorsville, P'reder- 
 icksburg, Gettysburg, and Culpejjpcr. Pie 
 was severely wounded at Gettsyburg, and was 
 in the hosjiital three months. When convales- 
 cent he was detailed as hospital nurse, and 
 upon his recovery lie rejoined his regiment. 
 He was taken prisoner at Mine Rim, and dur- 
 ing his captivity was confined in l.ihbx- Prison, 
 Pelle Isle, Ander.sonville, Savannah, and Mil- 
 ler, (ki. , where he was exchanged. Resuming 
 active duty, he participated in the battle of 
 Platcher's Run and the siege of Petersburg, was 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 '37 
 
 present at Lee's .surrender, and was mustered 
 out in fune, 1865. Decidiii};' to enter profes- 
 sional life, he began the study of medicine 
 with Dr. S. L. Ford, of West Kill, and later 
 attended lectures at the Albany Medical Col- 
 lege, from which he was graduated in 1868. 
 Locating in Lexington, where he had already 
 ])ractised to some extent, he acquired a large 
 and lucrative practice, and has faithfully dis- 
 charged his duties as a ph)'sician for the past 
 thirty years. IJeing the onl\' physician in 
 town, he has a large local field of opera- 
 tion, and his outside [iractice covers a wide 
 circuit. 
 
 In 1872 Dr. l-'ord married for his first wife 
 Frances A. Cox, of Cambridgeport, Mass., 
 daughter of the Rev. Leonard Cox, who was 
 a graduate of Harvard University and a Baptist 
 minister. Mr. Cox at one time preached in 
 Lexington, but is now a resident of \'irginia. 
 Of this union there were two children, neither 
 of whom is living. Dr. F\)rd's first wife died 
 at the age of forty, and in 1887 he married for 
 his second wife Annie L. Dunham, of Lexing- 
 ton, daughter of the late Aaron B. and Mary 
 (15onestell) Dunham. Of this union there are 
 two children — Fdwin and Flhel. 
 
 Dr. Ford is a member of the Greene County 
 Medical Society, and is Medical Examiner for 
 the Phceni.x, Mutual, Equitable, and other in- 
 surance companies. Lie belongs to the Grand 
 Army of the Republic and the Knights of 
 Pythias. Politically, he is a Democrat. He 
 was Town Physician and a member of the 
 Board of Health several years. He and his 
 family attend the Baptist church. 
 
 \C4^/ILLIAM GRANBY, a carpenter and 
 builder of Blenheim, and at the 
 present time a membjr of the Board of Sujier- 
 visors from this town, was born here on No- 
 vember I, 1868, son of Alexander and Julia 
 (Kellogg) Granby. 
 
 Richard (iranby, his great-grandfather, who 
 was a native of Ireland, came to this country 
 during the war of the Revolution, and joined 
 the Colonial army, in which he subsequently 
 rendered valiant .service. After peace was de- 
 clared, he came to Blenheim and settled on the 
 farm about a mile from the present village, 
 which is now owned by William Granby, liis 
 mother, brother, anti his sister. Here he died 
 in old age. 
 
 Richard's son William, first, grandfather of 
 the [jresent William Granb)', was a nati\e of 
 Blenheim. He engaged in farming and in tlie 
 lumber business, and also worked as a cooper. 
 He was a very prominent citizen in the town, 
 and served as School Overseer and in other 
 public capacities. He was one of the leaders 
 in the movement to build the Methodist 
 church, and held the offices of class leader and 
 steward in that body. Hisde.ith occurred at 
 the age of eighty-eight. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Susan Badgely, was a native 
 of Coeymans. Their children were: Alexan- 
 der, William, George, Jane, Ellen, and three 
 others that died young. The mother died at 
 the age of eighty-eight, after sixty-five years 
 of happ_\- marrieil life. 
 
 Alexander Granby, father of the third Will- 
 iam, engaged in mercantile business in early 
 life, but later learned the cooper's business, 
 
138 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ami worked at that witli farming during tiie 
 remainder of his life. He was well l<miwn 
 and highly respected in these parts, and was 
 very successful in all his business ventures. 
 Politically, he was a Keiniblican, and was 
 Town Clerk antl Assessor for some years. He 
 ilied at the age of si.\t)--five. He is survived 
 by his wife, Julia, and their three children, 
 namely: Arthur, who resides on the Granby 
 homestead; Susie, who married John R. Berg, 
 of New York; and William. Mrs. Granby is 
 li\-ing in New Ynvk with her daughter. .She 
 was born in Carthage, Jefferson C'ounty, 
 daughter of John Kellogg, a shoemaker and 
 dealer of that place. Her parents had a large 
 family of children. 
 
 William Granbx', the subject of this sketch, 
 grandson of the first Williani, attended the 
 public schools of the town until about thirteen 
 years of age, and during the ne.xt ten years 
 gave his attention to farming. Then for some 
 five years he worked at carpentering, though 
 he still resided on the homestead farm. The 
 estate originally comprised a hundred aiul forty 
 acres, and of this he inherited a third. He 
 was especially interested in dairying, finding 
 his markets in Albany and in New York. 
 
 Mr. Granby has shown his interest in the 
 welfare of the coinnninity b\' his attendance on 
 the countv con\-eiit ions every year, e.xcei-iting 
 one, since he became a voter. In 1893, ha\ing 
 been elected Town Clerk, he moved into the 
 village, where he has since resided. He de- 
 clined the nomination for the clerk's office for 
 a second term, but became candidate for 
 Sheriff in the county on the Republican ticket. 
 
 Although defeated, he ran far ahead of the 
 ticket, and had the satisfaction of carrying his 
 own town, usually Democratic, by eighty-si.K 
 votes. He made the greatest run ever made 
 ft)r the office by a Republican candidate. He 
 has twice declined the nomination for the 
 oflfice of Supervisor, but in iS9tS was elected to 
 that office for a term of two years. No better 
 representative could have been sent, and he 
 has the hearty support of his townspeople. 
 Mr. Granby is a member of the Odd Fellows 
 Order, and at present Noble Grand. Shortly 
 after he joined the organization, two years ago, 
 he was chosen permanent secretary. As a 
 musician, Mr. Granby has acquired considera- 
 ble local reputation. For many years he has 
 been leader of the choir at the Methotlist 
 church, and for the last five years he has been 
 the church organist. 
 
 r;)l[ ENRY VAN B1':RGFN, the well- 
 known miller of Co.\sackie, N.Y., 
 was born in Athens, Greene County, 
 on December 30, 1850, son of Peter and Mary 
 (De Griff) Van Bergen. The founder of the 
 Van Bergen family in this country came from 
 Holland to Albany, N. Y., in early Colonial 
 times, and later, in 1678, with his three 
 sturdy sons, settled in Leeds, now the town of 
 Catskill. One of the inunigrant's sons, Peter 
 by name, was born in Albany. From him the 
 line is through his son Henry, followed by 
 three in successive generations bearing the 
 name Peter, the fourth Peter being the father 
 of the subject of this sketch. Henry, first. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 139 
 
 and his descendants above named, were all 
 born in dixsackie. The family is among the 
 ver}- oldest in Coxsackie, and all tlie land em- 
 braced within the town limits was at one time 
 owned by the Van Bergens. The first Re- 
 formed church, which was built in 1740, stood 
 on land which was the gift of one of the mem- 
 bers of this family. 
 
 Peter Van ]5ergcn, the great-grandfather, 
 resided about a half mile from the present vil- 
 lage. He died in 1854, at the age of ninety. 
 His wife's maiden name was Woodbeck. 
 They had a large family of children. Grand- 
 father Peter had a brickyard near the j^resent 
 town of West Coxsackie, or at Lower Landing, 
 which he carried on with great success. Pie 
 was one of the leading men in the town, and a 
 member of the Assembly in 1846. He was 
 a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. 
 His first wife, the grandmother of Henry Van 
 Bergen, was an Egbertson. She bore him two 
 children. His second wife was before mar- 
 riage Christina Van Wormer. She was born in 
 Glenville, Montgomery County. Of her six 
 children, two are living, namely: Isaac, who 
 resides in New York; and Christina, who is 
 the wife of \V. R. Adams, at I-'our Mile Point. 
 
 Peter Van Bergen, father of the subject of 
 this sketch, purchased a farm of his own in 
 early manhood, and later had a part of his 
 father's farm. He lived just across the line in 
 New Baltimore, and died there at the age of 
 sixty-six. Like his ancestors he was an active 
 member of the Dutch Reformed church, and 
 one of its leading officials. His wife, Mary, 
 who survives him, was born in Amsterdam, 
 
 N. Y. , a daughter of Diedrich De Graff, a 
 farmer, who married a Miss Van Wormer, and 
 had a large family. She is the only survivor of 
 her fatlier's family. Her father died at the age 
 of sixty, and her mother at the age of seventy- 
 five. Three children were born to Peter and 
 Mary Van Bergen ; and two. Nelson and 
 Henry, are living, botli millers in this town. 
 
 Henry Van Bergen, the special suljject of 
 this sketch, obtained his education in the com- 
 mon schools, and subsequently assisted his 
 father on the home farm until the latter's 
 death. He then came to the village and built 
 the grist-mill, which he has since so success- 
 fully operated. It is a steam-mill, and has 
 three runs of stone and a set of rollers. A 
 very large custom business is here done in 
 grinding grain, and from this mill large quan- 
 tities of buckwheat flour are jjut into the 
 market. 
 
 Mr. \"an Bergen's marriage occurred in 
 1886, his wife being Phrebe J., only child of 
 the late Captain James Delamater, for many 
 years one of the best-known pilots on the Hud- 
 son River. She has borne l]im two ciiildren 
 — Mamie and Lawrence. 
 
 Mr. \'an Bergen upholds the time-honored 
 principles of his family in his adherence to the 
 Democratic party ; but he believes in putting 
 in office the best man, regardless of party affil- 
 iations. In 18S7 and 1S88 he was Supervisor 
 in the town of New Baltimore. In 1888 he 
 was a candidate for County Clerk, and was 
 elected by one hundred and fifty-one votes, 
 all the other members of the ticket being de- 
 feated by three hundred votes. After serving 
 
I40 
 
 UKJC. RA I'H ICAL RFAI lAV 
 
 three years he was again nominated in 1891, 
 and was re-elected by a thousand majority, 
 running six hunched aliead of liis tic]<et. 
 Three years later, in 1.S94, he was again nomi- 
 nated, l)ut failed of election, going down in 
 the Democratic "land slide." In 1.S96 he 
 was Presidential Elector from this district. 
 He was on the County Committee, being its 
 chairman in iS'<j2, and was re-elected in the 
 follow ing year, but resigned. lie has at dif- 
 ferent limes refused the nomination i)olh to 
 tiie State legislature and to Congress. He is 
 one of the Town Water Commissioners, and 
 has served on the Hoard of luiucation for the 
 last three years, having under his charge the 
 school at West Co.xsackie. He is a member 
 of the Knigiits of rythias, and he and his fam 
 ily are atlherents of the Dutch l-ieformetl 
 cluuch. 
 
 T^HARLES S. BURNETT, M.l)., of 
 
 I Ji .Summit, .Sciioharie County, ^'.^^, 
 
 ^ ^ was born in Eminence, N.^'. , .Sep- 
 
 temi)er 1^, 1S50, son of Francis and IMelissa 
 (Cermond) Hurnett. Hoth ihe fatlier's family 
 and the nioihcr's are of luiglish origin. Tiie 
 I'lUiiutts came here fi'nm Connecticut. Mat- 
 thi.is liurnett. Dr. lUunctt's grandfather, who 
 was i)orn March S, IJ/S, and died April 
 19, 184S, was an early settler in Jefferson. 
 After locating here he was married to .Susan 
 (iueiin. .She was born Maich 25, i/.So, and 
 she died I'ebruary 27, 1844. They were the 
 parents of nine sons and four daughters. All 
 of the sons became prosperous farmers. 
 
 l-"rancis Hurnett, Dr. Hurnett's father, was 
 born in Jefferson, September 25, 1821. 
 Early in life he engaged in general farming in 
 Eminence, where he tilled the soil energeti- 
 cally for the rest of his active period, and he 
 died July 7, 1890. He was the father of four 
 children, namely: Lucetta b'., who man ied 
 Charles Huhhell, of Jefferson; James, who is 
 engaged in mercantile business in .Summit; 
 H\i-on, a resident of Cobleskill ; and Chailes 
 S., M.D., the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Charles S. Burnett acquired his earlv educa- 
 tion in the schools of Eminence, N.V. On 
 leaving school he was employed for a time as 
 a clerk in his biother's store, and then going 
 to Newark, N.J., he worked at the carpenter's 
 trade. His medical studies were begun under 
 the direction of Dr. F. 15. J^eard, were contin- 
 ued with Dr. Bigelow, of Albany, and later at 
 the Albany Medical School, which he entered 
 in 1876. His expenses there he ilefra\ed with 
 funds saved from his earnings. He displayed 
 such marked jjroficiency in his studies that 
 when he was graduated, in 1879, he was 
 chosen orator of his class, the majorit)' of 
 whose members had |Hirsued a classical course 
 jjrior to entering a professional school. I're- 
 feriing a coimlry practice, he first settled at 
 North Blenheim, where he resided seven years, 
 at the expiration of which lime he came to 
 .Summit, succeeding to the practice of Dr. 
 Beard. He has gained a high standing among 
 the leading physicians in this section. 
 
 In politics he is a Democrat. In i S97 he 
 was elected Coroner for a term of three years. 
 He belongs to the County Medical Society, 
 
JAMES \V. WAUDELL. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 143 
 
 takes a lively interest in tlie advancement of 
 science, and as a progressive, public-spirited 
 citizen he is actively concerned in all matters 
 relative to the improvement of this town. The 
 residence he now occupies was erected by him 
 in 1893. 
 
 Dr. IkuMiett married Nannie l^uckint;"ham, 
 daughter of Merritt BuckinL;hani, of Gilboa. 
 Mrs. Burnett is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 AMES W. VVADDELL, former Super- 
 visor of Duanesburg, N. Y. , was born 
 where he now resides, June i, 1826, 
 being the only son of David and Mary (Coie) 
 Waddell. His father was born in the north of 
 Ireland, August 14, 1794; and his mother was 
 born there, February 15, 1792. 
 
 Shortly after their marriage, which took 
 place May 23, 1S16, David Waddell and his 
 wife came to the Uniteil States, settling in 
 Duanesburg; and about the year 1825 he 
 bought the farm which is now owned by his 
 son. A sturd}', industrious, and jirogressive 
 farmer, he labored diligently to maintain a 
 comfortable home for his family; and, being a 
 worthy, upright man, he gained the sincere 
 esteem of his fellow-townspeople. In politics 
 he supported the Democratic party, and in his 
 religious belief he was a Presbyterian. David 
 Waddell died May 7, 1862, and his wife died 
 May 7, 1 87 1. They were the parents of eight 
 ciiildren, namely: Ruth, born November 22, 
 1817; Rose Anna, born May 24, 1S20; Fi- 
 delia, born July 11, 1822; Mary Jane, born 
 
 February 28, 1824; James W. , born, as above 
 mentioned, June i, 1S26; Margaret, born 
 April 3, 1829; Hannah, born March 25, 183 i ; 
 and Sarah M., born September i, 1833. Of 
 these, four are now living, namely: l'"idclia, 
 who resides at the old homestead; Mary Jane, 
 the wife of Thomas H. Turnbull, of Rotterdam 
 Junction, N.Y. ; James W., the subject of this 
 sketch ; and Margaret, now the widow of S. 
 Putnam, and living in South Schenectady, 
 N.Y. Ruth, the eldest, was the wife of 
 Elijah Rockwell ; and Hannah, the seventh 
 child, was the wife of Dr. D. S. Kellogg. 
 
 James W. Waddell sjjcnt his early boyhood 
 years in attending the district school and as- 
 sisting his father upon the farm, and later 
 during the wintei' months attended school at 
 Charlotteville and Fort Plain Seminaries. 
 Succeeding to the ownership of the prop- 
 erty, which contains two hundred and thirt}' 
 acres, he has improved it by erecting new 
 buildings, carries on general farming ener- 
 getically, and keeps from twenty to twenty- 
 five head of stock. 
 
 On September 3, 1873, Mr. Waddell was 
 united in marriage with S. Electa Howard, 
 who was born in Duanesburg, January 27, 
 
 184: 
 
 P"our children were born of this union, 
 
 and two of them are living, namely: George 
 W. H., born August 8, 1879; and William 
 D., born May 13, 18S1, both of whom are at- 
 tending a business college. The others were: 
 Mary; and another tlaughter, who dieil in in- 
 fancy. Mrs. Waddell died January 26, 1899. 
 Politically, Mr. Waddell acts with the 
 Democratic party at national elections. He 
 
144 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 has been Supervisor and Road Commissioner, 
 holding each of these offices three terms and 
 rendering capable service to the town. He 
 takes a lively interest in the public institu- 
 tions of the town, and is ever ready to aid in 
 improving the general welfare of the commu- 
 nity. Mr. Waddell attends the Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 
 I'URGE L. l''()X, editor of the Mid- 
 lleburg A^cu's, is a native of Middle- 
 burg, N.'S'. He was born on April 3, 1871, 
 son of Lewis and Elizabeth (Wilbur) Fox. 
 His father, who is now living retired, was for- 
 merly engaged in the paper manufacturing 
 business in Pen Yan, and later in Baldwins- 
 ville and Middleburg. His mother was born 
 in .Schoharie. His jiarents had a family of 
 five children. 
 
 Mr. Fo.x received his education in the com- 
 mon and high schools of Middleburg; and in 
 1888, shortlv after leaving the high school, he 
 began the iniblication of 77(T Ai/urhui/ Yoiitli, 
 a monthly story paper. This was issued from 
 Middleburg, and had a circulation in every 
 State in the Union. The following year it was 
 sold to a publishing house in Boston, and sub- 
 sequently Mr. Fo.x purchased the .South 
 Orange, '^.]., Jouiual, and moved it to Mid- 
 dleburg. Associating himself with Welling- 
 ton v.. Passler, a prominent business man and 
 a Rei)ublican, he began the publication of the 
 Middleburg Ken's, a weekly paper. At first 
 the venture seemed most un])romising, and the 
 field was a limited one, Init the energy and 
 perseverance with which the jiroprietors have 
 
 worked, the fortunate methods employed by 
 the business management, and the enterprise 
 shown in the news columns have together 
 united to push the paper into the front rank 
 of Republican weeklies. It is now one of the 
 leading news organs of the county, and has a 
 large circulation. While its columns give 
 ample space to events of national importance, 
 it does not forget to em])hasize matters of local 
 interest, and is always foremost in agitating 
 local improvements. At various times it has 
 been designated by the Republican leaders as 
 the organ in which the .State laws should be 
 printed. 
 
 Mr. I""o.x was married on October 28, 1897, 
 to Mabel Almy. She was born in Franklin- 
 ton, and is a daughter of E. C. Alm\', who w^as 
 formerly a farmer of that town, and is now re- 
 tired antl living in Middleburg. Mr. P'ox is a 
 member of Middleburg Lodge, No. 661, F. & 
 A. M. , and has held the office of Junior Dea- 
 con of the lodge. He is a member of La Bas- 
 tile Lodge, No. 494, I. O. O. F. , and has 
 filled nearly all the offices in the lodge, being 
 now Past Noble Grand. He is also a member 
 of Oucongena Tribe of Red Men. Profession- 
 all}-, he is a member of the New York Edito- 
 rial Association and the New York Press Asso- 
 ciation. He and his wife attend the Methodist 
 church. 
 
 UGH B. GARA, proprietor of the 
 West End Hotel, Hunter, N. Y., 
 was born in Mauch Chunk, Pa!, 
 Ajiril 15, 1855, son of John and Mary (Mc- 
 Intire) Gara. His father was born in Ire- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 I4S 
 
 land, and here he learned the trade of a shoe- 
 maker, which he followed as long as he lived. 
 Emigrating to America in 1848, John Gara 
 settled in Mauch Chunk, and in 1855 he re- 
 moved to Hunter, where his death occurred in 
 1859, at the age of thirty-nine years. In pol- 
 itics he was a Democrat. His wife, Mary, 
 also a native of Ireland, is now seventy years 
 old. Her father, Hugh Mclntire, was a shoe- 
 maker and tavern-keeper. He came to Amer- 
 ica on a visit, and after his return to Ireland 
 he continued in business until his retirement, 
 when he was succeeded by his brother. Hugh 
 Mclntire had a family of seven childen. Of 
 these the four now living are: Mrs. Gara; 
 Joseph, who is in a post-office in Ireland; 
 Katy, widow of Thomas Kaggerty, who died 
 in Mauch Chunk, Pa. ; and Patrick, who is a 
 hotel proprietor in Ireland. John and Mary 
 (Mclntire) Gara were the parents of eight 
 children, of whom two are living; namely, 
 Mary and her brother, Hugh B., the subject 
 of this sketch, with whom she resides. The 
 others were: Patrick, who died March 7, 
 1889, aged thirty -nine; John F., who died 
 November 4, 1888, at the age of twenty-nine; 
 Hugh, first, who died in Ireland, at seven 
 years of age; and three children who died 
 young. 
 
 Hugh B. Gara was brought by his parents 
 to Hunter when six months old. He was ed- 
 ucated in the common schools, and at the age 
 of twelve entered the chair factory, where he 
 was employed until eighteen. He continued 
 to follow his trade as a journeyman one year 
 in a chair factory in Newburg, from which 
 
 place he went to New York City, and a year 
 later became a travelling salesman in the dry- 
 goods business. Prior to this his brother, 
 John F., had erected the present West End 
 Hotel in Hunter, which was opened in 1887; 
 and Mr. Gara left the road to assist him in 
 this enterprise, in a general way. Upon the 
 death of his brother, Hugh took control of the 
 house, and has since conducted it. 
 
 The West End is pleasantly located near 
 the terminus of the Stony Clove and Catskill 
 Mountain Railroad. It is sixty by thirty 
 feet, with a wing twenty-eight by seventy, 
 four stories high, and has accommodations for 
 one hundred and thirty guests. The rooms 
 are large, well ventilated, well furnished, and 
 lighted with gas. The bath accommodations 
 are ample, and the sanitary arrangements are 
 unexcelled. The house is within easy reach 
 of Hotel Kaaterskill and Laurel House, and 
 of Onteora, Elka, and Twilight Parks. 
 There is a good livery stable in connection. 
 
 On October 12, 1898, Mr. Gara was united 
 in marriage with Mary E. O'CarroU, daugh- 
 ter of David and Kate (O'Neil) O'Carroll, of 
 Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland. Her 
 paternal grandfather, Michael O'Carroll, a sea 
 captain, was also a native of that town. Her 
 father, who was reared to sea life, became 
 master of a vessel plying between Ireland and 
 France, and was also engaged in trade be- 
 tween Cork and Liverpool. Abandoning the 
 sea, he opened a ship-broker's office in Cardiff, 
 Wales, and conducted that business until his 
 death, which occurred in 1884, at the age of 
 fifty-seven. His wife, Kate, was a sister of 
 
146 
 
 BIOG RA ri 1 1 CAL REVI E\V 
 
 the Rev. Hugh O'Ncil, a sketch of whom ap- 
 pears elsewhere in the Review. She died in 
 1877, at the age of forty-one. She was the 
 mother of tlirec children. The only survivor 
 of tlie.se is Mary K., who was educated in the 
 Mercy Convent, Dungarvan, and is now I\Ir.«. 
 Ilngli 15. Gara. She is a fine piani.st, and 
 also received special instruction in painting 
 and the French language. She kept house for 
 her father until his death, and with the aid of 
 two assistants continued his business until 
 coming to the United States in 1886. Fre- 
 vious to her marriage she resided with iicr 
 uncle, the Rev. Father O'Neil. Mrs. Gara 
 is a valualjle assistant to her husband, l)eing 
 a woman of much e.vecutive ability. 
 
 is 
 
 ^TJ''1^15FRT L. ODELL, M.D., an able 
 physician and specialist of .Sharon 
 Springs, N.Y. , was born in Sum- 
 mit, this county, July 18, 1S59, son of Isaac 
 I., and Harriet L. (]5aldwin) Odell. The 
 family was foundt-d in America, late in the 
 se\enteenth or earl)- in the eighteenth centur)-, 
 by the great-great-great-granilfathcr, who emi- 
 grated from ICngland and settled on Long 
 Island. 
 
 Isaac L. Odell, the lather, who was born in 
 ■Jefferson, N.\'. , in 1815, nKJved to .Sunnnit 
 when a yomig man, and cairied on cpiite an ex- 
 tensive business as a cooper. He took consid- 
 erable interest in public affairs, serving as 
 Town Clerk and in olher offices. In politics 
 he supported the DeuKierat ic paity, and in his 
 reliiiious belief he was a Methodist. Ilis wife, 
 
 whose maiden name was Harriet L. ISaldwin, 
 was born in 181S. They were the parents of 
 five children, namely: Daniel; George W. ; 
 Peter L. ; Julia 1^., who married H. A. 
 Wright, of Worcester, \. Y. ; and Herbert L. , 
 the subject of this sketch. The father died in 
 1893, the mother's death having occurreil a few 
 months previous. Uanicl, George W. , and 
 Peter L. Odell reside in Summit. 
 
 Herbert L. Odell acquired hi.s eaily educa- 
 tion in the public and select schools. His 
 medical studies wei'C begun under the direction 
 of Ur. I". P. Heard, then of .Summit and now 
 of Coblcskill, with whom lie remained four 
 years. He was graduated from the Albany 
 Medical College in 1883; and, while ]inrsuing 
 his course in that cit\', lie studied with Dr. 
 Jacob S. Mo.shcr. Locating for practice in 
 Hobart, N.Y. , he remained tliere until March, 
 1S92, when he came to Sharon Springs. Dur- 
 ing the last six years of the time sjient at Ho- 
 bart he was associated in piaetice with Dr. 
 J. S. McNaughl. While ])ie[)aring foi- his 
 profession. Dr. Odell made a special study of 
 dermatology; and, since entering into prac- 
 tice, he has given much attention to the treat- 
 ment of rheumatism, in which he is remarka- 
 bly successful. L)uring the summer a large 
 number of jiatients come to .Sharon S]irings, in 
 Older to avail thenisehes of his treatment and 
 at the same time to receive the benefits of the 
 sul]iliur baths. Dr. Odell attends, al.so, to 
 most of the obstetric practice in this localit)'. 
 He was formerly ]ircsident of the Delawaie 
 Count)- Medical Sociel)-, is ])resident of the 
 Schoharie and a member of the Albaii) ComUy 
 
GARRKT W. iMATTICK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 149 
 
 Medical Societies. Progressive as well as 
 energx'tic, he keeps in touch with advanced 
 ideas by malving frec|vient visits to the hosjiitals 
 of the metropolis. 
 
 Dr. Odell and Eva L. Hoose, only daughter 
 of Robert J. Hoose, of Ilobart, N.Y. , were 
 united in marriage on May 13, 1S85. They 
 have three daughters — Grace, Kloise, and 
 l^eatrice. 
 
 Politically, Dr. Odell acts with the Demo- 
 cratic party. He is a Master Mason, belong- 
 ing to the Blue Lodge in Sharon Springs, and 
 is also an Odd Fellow. He is a member of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he 
 is now servinfr as steward. 
 
 /^^^TeORGE 1L FAULKNER, Supervisor 
 \|£J_ and Justice of the Peace, Lexington, 
 Greene County, N.Y., was born in this town 
 September 6, 1S42, son of Alfred and Sarah 
 (Cross) Faulkner. His paternal grandfather, 
 William Faulkner, was a native of Liverpool, 
 England. He came to Lexington before mar- 
 riage, ant], settling on a farm, engaged in its 
 cultivation, and also followed the trade of a 
 shoemaker. A man of considerable natural 
 ability, in politics he was a Democrat, and 
 represented his district in the Assembly. He 
 married Abigail Drake. They lived to an ad- 
 vanced age, and had a large family of children. 
 Allred L'aulkner grew to manhood upon the 
 home farm. Later he cultivated a farm of his 
 own in Halcott, where he resided for the rest 
 of his life, and was quite actix'C in pul^lic 
 affairs. His first wife, Sarah, died about the 
 
 year 1845. She was a daughter of George 
 Cross, a farmer and lifelong resident of Lex- 
 ington. She had three children: Mary, who 
 married F^rank Moore, of this town; Victor, 
 who is in F'leischmann.s, Delaware County; 
 and George H., the subject of this sketch. 
 For his second wife he married Ann Faulkner, 
 who at her death left two children — James and 
 Sarah. Alfred Faulkner died at seventy-three 
 years of age. 
 
 George H. F'aulkner spent his early years 
 with an uncle on a farm about a mile below the 
 village, and was educated in the common 
 schools. He followed agriculture until 1SS6, 
 when he came to the village, and engaged in 
 selling farming implements. He also trans- 
 acts a great deal of legal business and has con- 
 siderable iiractice in the minor courts. 
 
 Li 1S90 Mr. Faulkner married Miss Mary 
 M. Banks, daughter of Joseph Banks, a farmer 
 of Hardenburg, N. Y. One son, Leon, has 
 been, born of this union. 
 
 Politically, Mr. P\au]kner is a Democrat. 
 Lie has been Justice of the Peace since 1882. 
 He was Justice of Special Sessions one term, 
 is now serving as Supervisor, and has been 
 Tax Collector two years. He is a trustee of 
 the Baptist and Methodist churches, and Mrs. 
 Faulkner attends the Baptist church of Lexing- 
 ton. 
 
 fm>^ 
 
 .ARRET VV. MATTICE, a well- 
 \[^J_ known and highly respected agricult- 
 urist of Schoharie County, owns and occupies 
 a farm on the Middleburg road in the town of 
 Fulton, about two miles from Fultonham. Lie 
 
'5° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 was born June 2, 1S30, a son of Adam L. 
 Matticc, and is a direct descendant of Nicholas 
 Matt ice, wiio emigrated from Germany in the 
 early jiart of the eighteenth century and took 
 up a tract of wild land in the vicinity of the 
 Upper Fort, Schoharie County. 
 
 Conrad Matt ice, son of Nicholas and the 
 next in line of descent, was a lifelong resi- 
 dent of this part of the State. In his early 
 manhoiid he located on land in Middleburg, 
 where his son Lawrence, the grandfather of 
 (jarret W. , was l:>(irn. 
 
 At the time of the Revolution, Lawrence 
 Mattice, though but a boy of sixteen, was em- 
 ployed at the Middle Fort, and with Murphy 
 and other brave soldiers marched out to meet 
 the enemy. On one of his hasty expeditions 
 he and a companion succeeded in taking pris- 
 oner a man by the name of Adam Chrysler, 
 whom they carried to the fort. He continued 
 in service until the close of the war, when he 
 settled on a farm, and from that time until his 
 death, at the venerable age of eighty-six years, 
 was engaged in cultivating the land. lie was 
 quite ])rom incut in the management of town 
 matters, and at one time was nominated to the 
 State Assembly. His wife, Maria Brown, a 
 native of this part of the county, bore him 
 seven children, none of whom sur\-ive. She 
 lived to be ujnvard of eighty years of age, and 
 diet! at the old homestead. Buth she antl her 
 husband were members of the Lutheran 
 church. 
 
 , Adam L. Mattice was born September 15, 
 1S03, in Middleburg. Following in the 
 footsteps of his ancestors, he became a tiller of 
 
 the soil. On coming of age he purchased a 
 farm not far from the old home, and in the 
 log house that stood in the clearing began 
 life for himself, poor in pocket, but rich in 
 energy, courage, and ambition. By dint of 
 industr)- ami economv he succeeded in pay- 
 ing for his land, besides which he laid up a 
 small sum. On Ajiril 5, 1S49, having sold 
 his first estate, he look possession of the 
 farm now occupied by his son. Garret W. , 
 and here resided until his death, July 5, 
 1888. A man of sound judgment and good 
 financial ability, he became prominent in the 
 town, and served as Highway Commissioner 
 and Assessor for a number of j-enrs. Both 
 he and his wife were active members of the 
 Baptist church. He married Dinah Mattice, 
 who was born in the town of lilenheim, a 
 daughter of Da\id Mattice, a prosperous 
 farmer. They had a family of five children, 
 three of whom survive, nameh' : Garret \V. ; 
 Dinah, wife of Josiah Mann; and Llizabeth, 
 wife of I'eter Shaffer. 
 
 Garret W. Mattice was born in the log cabin 
 in which his parents settled soon after mar- 
 riage, and during his earlier years he assisted 
 in the pioneer labor of redeeming a farm from 
 the wilderness. In 1849 he came with them 
 to his ])iesent farm, which he and a brother 
 who dieil in 1877 helped to improve. l'"rom 
 that time until the death of his father, in 
 1 888, Mr. Mattice had the general oversight 
 of the jiroperty, which is now in his posses- 
 sion. This farm contains one hundred and 
 seventy acres of land, and he also owns a farm 
 of one huntlred acres on the road to Cohleskill. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 151 
 
 Skilful and progressive, he h:is met with 
 success as a general farmer. He raises hay, 
 grain, and hops, is an extensive dealer in 
 cattle, and from his small herd of cows makes 
 a choice grade of butter, which he shijis to Al- 
 bany. He has made many of the most impor- 
 tant improvements on the place, including the 
 erection of the present commodious dwelling- 
 house and the substantial barns and farm 
 buildings. 
 
 In i)olitics Mr. Mattice afifiliates with the 
 Democratic party, and besides serving as Com- 
 missioner of Highways he was Supervisor from 
 iSg6 until i8g8. He is a regular attendant of 
 the Baptist church, and in the building of the 
 new edifice of that denomination gave material 
 financial assistance. 
 
 On March 24, 1S66, Mr. Mattice married 
 Rachel Cowan, a daughter of James Cowan, 
 well known in Fulton as an able farmer and 
 lawyer. Mr. Cowan married Emeline Cary, 
 of Schoharie, who passed to the life immortal 
 at the age of sixty-eight years, while he at- 
 tained the age of fourscore years. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Mattice have one child living, a son, 
 Paul IV, and they have been bereft of two, 
 namely: Eli G. , who died aged three years, 
 six months; and Ira C, who died aged four 
 years and seven months. Paul B. Mattice 
 after his graduation at the Middleburg High 
 School entered Cornell University, class of 
 1901, intending there to fit himself for the 
 bar. During the Spanish War he enlisted, 
 July 17, 1898, in Company K, Two Hundred 
 and Third New York Volunteers, and served 
 until March 25, 1899, when he was mustered 
 
 out as Corporal. On his return he again took 
 up his studies at Cornell. 
 
 HARLES E. NICHOLS, coun.selIor- 
 at-law, and District Attorney of Greene 
 County, and one of the best-known 
 and most respected residents of Catskill, was 
 born in Athens, Greene County, March 20, 
 1S54. His father is General George Sylvester 
 Nichols, and his mother in maidenhood was 
 Ann Netterville Foster. 
 
 His paternal grandfather was Judge Sylves- 
 ter Nichols, a native and prominent citizen of 
 Athens. Besides carrying on a farm, the 
 grandfather was a manufacturer of brick and 
 lime, was also engaged in freighting on a large 
 scale, being the owner of several vessels. He 
 was also County Judge of Greene County for 
 several years. He married Lucy E. Hamilton, 
 who also was a native of Athens. She died in 
 1 89 1, at the age of ninety. Seven of their 
 children grew to maturity; namely, George 
 Sylvester, Samuel Hamilton, William T., E\- 
 bridge, Charles P., Henry O. , and Sarah. 
 
 George Sylvester Nichols, the first-named 
 son, was born in Athens, N. Y., January 12, 
 1820. He attended private schools in Athens 
 until twelve years old; and in 1832 he entered 
 Lenox Academy, Mass., where he remained 
 one year. In 1S34 he went to Fairfield Acad- 
 emy, Herkimer County, N.Y., for a year ; and 
 during the year 1837 he .studied at the acad- 
 emy in Kinderhook, N. Y., which was estab- 
 lished by his grandfather. l*"rom 1838 to 
 1846 he was captain of the sloop "Science, " 
 
152 
 
 mOGRAl'HICAL REVIEW 
 
 owned by his father, carrying brick, lime, 
 hay, and jjrodiice froni Athens to New York. 
 He was appointed Brigade Quartermaster of 
 the Thirty-seventh Brigade of New York State 
 Militia, and commissioned by (lovernor Will- 
 iam C. Bouck on Sejjtembcr 14, 1S43; and he 
 was api)ointed Brigadier-general of the Thirty- 
 seventh Brigade by Governor Silas Wright 
 on March 3, 1S45. In 1.S47 and 1848 he was 
 employed in Troy, N.Y., as superintendent of 
 Colonel J. Hooker's docks, barges and canal 
 boats, and general mnndger of his transporta- 
 tion line to New York. lie started for Cali- 
 fornia in 1849, sailing from New York on 
 February 5 in the steamer "Crescent City " for 
 San Francisco. After staying a month on the 
 isthmus, in Gorgona and Panama, he left the 
 last-named place on the steamer "Oregon" on 
 her first trij) up the coast, and, arriving at San 
 Francisco on the first day of Ajjril, 1849, went 
 directly to Sutter's Mill, Coloma, where he 
 was engaged nearly two years in packing and 
 trading. He left San l'"rancisco for home 
 about December i, 1850, by steamer, going to 
 Panama, from there crossing the isthmus to 
 Chagres by mule and bungo, as on the trip 
 out, and thence reaching New York by steamer 
 about the first of January, 185 i. In the 
 sjjring of 1 85 1 he was elected Supervisor of 
 the town of Athens, and two years later was 
 nominated by the Democratic party for State 
 Senator for the Tenth District, which includes 
 Greene and. Ulster Counties, but was defeated 
 by the Prohibition candidate. In 1S55 he was 
 again nominated for State Senator, this time 
 by the Amcriian part)', was elected, and 
 
 served one term. On June 8, i860, he was 
 appointed one of the Board of Commissioners 
 of Ivxcisc for Greene County for three years. 
 
 When hostilities began between the South 
 anil the North, he felt that his former military 
 training would be of value to hit. country, and 
 decided to offer himself as a vidimtecr. On 
 November 23, 1861, having received an ap- 
 pointment as Major in the Ninth New \'ork 
 Cavalry, and having been given his commis- 
 sion by G(nernor Morgan, be left Albany on 
 the same day for the national caiutal. Ujjon 
 going into active service, liis biavery and abil- 
 itv at once became conspicuous, antl his ])io- 
 motion was rapid. On May 30, 1863, he was 
 made Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment, and 
 on June 14, 1864, was commissioned Colonel 
 by Governor Se}anour. He was musteretl out 
 with the regiment at Buffalo, X.\'., on July 
 17, 1865. On March 13, 1S65, "for gallant 
 and meritorious services in all the cavalry en- 
 gagements under General Slierichui," he was 
 brevetted Brigadier-general of United States 
 Volunteers. 
 
 On June 25, 1867, he was appointed by 
 Collector H. A. Smythe Inspector of Customs 
 in the New York Custom House, and on No- 
 vember 8, 1875, he was apixiinted, b\- Collec- 
 tor Chester A. .Arthui', Deputy Collector of 
 Customs. In 1879 he was nominated for 
 member of Congress by the Re|5ublican party 
 in the Fifteenth Congressional District (Ul- 
 ster, Greene, and Schoharie Counties), but 
 was defeated. In 1882 he was a])pointe(l b\- 
 Secretary of the Interior, the lion. II. M. 
 Teller, S[)ecial I'^\:uniiu'i- in the piaision office; 
 
BIOGRArHICAI, REVIEW 
 
 and in this capacity he served three years. 
 For three years also subsequent to 1885 he held 
 the office of County Cleriv of Greene County, 
 having been elected by the Republican party. 
 Since i8Sg General Nich(5ls has retired from 
 active life. 
 
 On October 7, 1845, he married Ann Net- 
 terville Foster, daughter of Captain James G. 
 and Ann E. Foster. Mrs. Nichols was born 
 in Athens, N.Y. , and died there at the age of 
 eighty. Her father was a sea caj^tain, and 
 commanded a ship that ran from New V'ork 
 to Liverpool, England. During the embargo 
 placed upon American vessels by the French, 
 he anchored his vessel in the river, a few miles 
 below Athens, to get it in fresh water, and 
 while there met Ann Colson, witii whom he 
 fell in love at sight. He made only one more 
 voyage, and then married and settled in Athens, 
 where he went into the brick-making business. 
 This he gave up after a time, and subsequently 
 carried on a store until his death, at the age of 
 seventy-si.\. He owned a fine farm. His 
 wife died at the age of seventy-eight, having 
 been the mother of si.x children. Five chil- 
 dren were born to General George S. and Ann 
 N. Nichols, and four of them are living; 
 namely, Mar)-, Foster, Charles E., and Ar- 
 thur. Mary married Frank N. Howland, who 
 is a member of the firm of Smith & Candee, 
 the oldest and leading firm of dealers in lime, 
 brick, and builders' supplies in New York 
 City. Foster Nichols is purchasing agent for 
 M. Guggenheim's Sons, who are among the 
 largest smelters and refiners in the United 
 States. Arthur Nichols is a mining operator 
 
 in I^eadville, Col. Mrs. Nichols was a devout 
 Episcopalian, as is also the general; and he 
 was formerly a member of a Masonic organiza- 
 tion. He resides in "The Old Nest" in 
 Athens, which has been his home for half a 
 century. 
 
 Charles E. Nichols spent his early years in 
 his native town of Athens, and received his 
 early education in the district schools. Sub- 
 sequently he attended the high school at 
 Englewood, N.J., the I^^iirfield Seminary at 
 Fairfield, N. Y. , and the Fort Edward Collegi- 
 ate Institute. Then, following the memorable 
 advice of Horace Greeley, he went West, and 
 was employed in the general office of the Colo- 
 rado Central Railroad at Golden, Col., for 
 about four years. Having decided to enter the 
 legal profession, he gave his mind with ardor 
 to the necessary studies, and was admitted to 
 the bar in Colorado in 1880. He practised 
 his profession in that State for about two 
 years, during which time he also engaged to 
 some extent in mining. Then, returning East, 
 he was admitted to the bar in the State of New 
 York in 1882, after which he practised law in 
 Athens for some three years. In 1885 he was 
 appointed Deputy County Clerk under his 
 father, which position he held until 1889. 
 He was then appointed Clerk to the Surro- 
 gate's Court by the present surrogate, and 
 served until December, 1898, a period of ten 
 years in all, when he resigned, having been 
 elected District Attorney in the fall of that 
 year. He still has three years to serve in this 
 ofifice. 
 
 Mr. Nichols was married in 1890 to Mrs. 
 
'54 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mary B. Willis, who was born in Connecticut, 
 the daughter of the Rev. II. II. Bates, an 
 Episcopalian clergyman. I ler mother's maiden 
 name was E. Samanthe Bascom. Both parents 
 were natives of Vermont. They had three 
 children. Mr. Bates was rector of a church in 
 Glens Falls, N.Y., at the breaking out of the 
 Civil War; and, when one of his wardens had 
 enlisted as a Colonel and another as a Major, 
 he resigned his charge at their request, and 
 went to the fnmt as chajdain of their regiment. 
 He remained with his regiment throughout the 
 war, and sub.sequently, his health being im- 
 paired, took a small charge in Oak Hill, this 
 county. There he died in icS68. He was an 
 active Mason, and was bLuied with Masonic 
 rites. The lodge of which he was a member 
 erected a monument to his memory at Oak 
 Hill, N.Y. , where he was buried. 
 
 Mr. Nichols is Vice-Chancellor in the 
 Knights of Pythias Lodge in Catskill, and 
 Junior Sagamore of the Red Men. in 1SS2 
 he was a member of the Lodge of Knights of 
 Pythias in Athens. He has resided in Catskill 
 since 1890, when he removed here from Athens. 
 He and his wife are members of the Episcopal 
 church, which has recently erected a beautiful 
 new church edifice. While in Athens Mr. 
 Nichols was a lay-reader in the church there, 
 and for three years superintendent of the Sun- 
 day-school. 
 
 ICIIARU WINEGARD, a well-known 
 luiller of Hyndsville, Schoharie 
 County, was Ijoi'ii near this x'illage 
 Seplendjer 19, 1845, a son of George and 
 
 Eliza A. (Isham) Winegard. He is of Ger- 
 man ancestry, and a grandson of one of the 
 earliest settlers of this section of .Schoharie 
 County — Richard Winegard, first, who came 
 here from Schodack, Rensselaer County. 
 
 There being no roads across the country in 
 those early days. Grandfather Winegard made 
 the journey hither through the unbroken woods 
 on horseback ; and, ]ia\ing secured a tract of 
 land in the heart of the forest, he felled trees, 
 and thus made an opening in which he luit u]) 
 a small log cabin of rude construction, with n(j 
 windows, and only a blanket for a door. lie 
 was a tailor; and, in connection with clearing 
 a farm, he worked at his trade wlienever he had 
 an opportunit)'. He succeeded finely at both 
 occupations, and in the course of a few years 
 had cleared and jdaced under cultivation a 
 number of acres of land. Prudent, thriftful, 
 and a good manager, he at length found that he 
 was warranted in replacing the log-cabin with a 
 substantial frame house, and in building a com- 
 fortable barn and a shed for his new wagon and 
 farming implements. A man of intelligence 
 and sound judgment, he became influential 
 in the community and a leader in religious 
 circles. He was a devout Methodist, and a 
 regular attendant at the prayer-meetings held 
 seven miles away, a journey that he tnuk on 
 horseback. He far outlived tlie allotted span 
 of human life, his pilgrimage on earth extend- 
 ing over a period of one hundred and two 
 years. His wife, Charity Kickart, was also of 
 (lerman descent. She proved herself a true 
 heliJmeet, assisting him in theii" early days of 
 labor while li\ing in the log-cabin, and train- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ^S5 
 
 ing their seven ehildren to habits of industry 
 and usefulness. She preceded him to the 
 better world, passing away at the age of eighty- 
 five years. 
 
 George Winegard assisted his father in his 
 pioneer labors, and after reaching man's estate 
 purchascil the old Peter Marklc farm near by, 
 in the town of .Seward, and spent many years 
 in improving it. He built a new dwelling, a 
 barn, and other farm buildings, and was there 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits several years. 
 Subsequently coming to Hyndsville, he bought 
 land, rebuilt the saw-mill and built a grist- 
 mill, and during the remainder of his life was 
 prominently identified with the highest and 
 best interests of this little village, and was 
 largely instrumental in its development. In 
 politics he was, in early manhood, a stanch 
 Whig, and later a Republican. A man of 
 eminent piety, deeply interested in advancing 
 the cause of religion, he was very active in the 
 Methodist church, with which he united when 
 young, and was for many years a class leader 
 and one of the trustees. When its present 
 house of worshiiJ was erected he was one of the 
 foremost in hastening the work, and contrib- 
 uted fourteen hundred dollars toward the 
 building fund. He died at the age of seventy- 
 two years, leaving a host of friends who sym- 
 pathized with the family in their great loss. 
 His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza A. 
 Isham, was born in this town. Her father, 
 Benjamin Isham, was a prominent citizen and 
 a pioneer merchant of Hyndsville. .She was a 
 woman of culture, ha\ing been educated at a 
 New York City boarding-school. .She was a 
 
 distant relation of John Ouincy Adams. Mrs. 
 Winegard survived her husband, dying at the 
 age of eighty-two years. They reared five 
 children, namely: Emily, wife of Rector Fos- 
 ter ; Phebe, deceased; George, deceased; Rich- 
 ard ; and Albert. 
 
 Richard Winegard was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools, and until he was thirty-five years 
 old he worked with his father on the farm and 
 in the mill. Since the death nf the father 
 he and his brother Albert have devoted their 
 attention to the grist-mill, and, in addition to 
 dealing somewhat in grain and feed, have car- 
 ried on a very extensive business in custom 
 grinding of corn, flour, and feed. The nine 
 acres of land included in the original property 
 they utilize by raising on it hay, grain, and 
 potatoes. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Winegard is a steadfast Re- 
 publican, and takes an active interest in local 
 and county affairs. P^raternally, he is an Odd 
 Fellow, belonging to Richmondville Eodge. 
 True to the religious faith in which he was 
 reared, he is a faithful member of the Meth- 
 odist I'^piscopal church, which he has served 
 for many years as trustee, steward, class 
 leader, and church recorder, having taken up 
 the work laid down by his father and success- 
 fully carried it on. 
 
 On December 23, 1S74, Mr. Winegard was 
 united in marriage to Miss Maggie J. Weid- 
 man, daughter of Nicholas and Ann (.Starkins) 
 Weidman, of Schoharie County. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Winegard have one child, a daughter, 
 Lottie E. , wife of Benjamin I''. Empie, a mer- 
 chant of Hyndsville and Town Clerk of 
 
•36 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Seward. Mr. and Mrs. Enipie are the jiroud 
 parents of a bright baby girl, Bernice L. , born 
 on February 2, 1899. 
 
 i.ARTHOLOMF.W 11. CLUTE, one 
 
 of the representative dairymen of 
 Glenville, N.Y. , was born in Sche- 
 nectady, June 21, I S3 1, son of Henry and 
 Cathaline T. (Haverley) Clute. His grand- 
 father, liartholomew Clute, served as a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary War. He was for some 
 time a boatman on the Mohawk River; and on 
 one occasion he had for a passenger the British 
 commander. Sir Henry Clinton. The maiden 
 name of Grandfather Clute's wife was Margaret 
 Peters. 
 
 Their son, Henry Clute, ahove named, was 
 a native of Schenectady. When a young man, 
 he engaged in the grocery business, which he 
 followed for the rest of his life. He died 
 about 1S35. His wife, Cathaline, was a na- 
 tive of (Bienville. Her paternal grandfather 
 was John Haverley, a large land-owner of this 
 town in his day. His death occurred the same 
 night that the subject of this sketch was born. 
 John 1 laverley married Anna Adams, a repre- 
 sentative, it is thought, of the noted Massachu- 
 setts family which has given two Presidents — 
 John and John Ouincy Adams — to the United 
 States. Henry and Cathaline T. Clute reared 
 four children; namely, Susan II., Christian 
 H., Harlholomew H., and John II. B. Clute, 
 all of whom, exxept Bartholomew H., are re- 
 sidiuii; in Rotterdam. The mother died Mav, 
 
 1882. The parents were members of the Re- 
 formed church. 
 
 Bartholomew H. Clute passed his boyhood 
 and youth in Schenectady and Glenville, and 
 attended school in these places. His father's 
 death threw him upon his own resources at an 
 early age, and he began life as a workman in 
 the broom factories of Schenectady at eleven 
 dollars per month. In 1850 he went to Illi- 
 nois, where he engaged in raising broom-corn 
 on leased land. He also established a factory, 
 and maniifactured the first lot of Western-made 
 brooms ever sold in Chicago. Although this 
 enterprise proved quite successful, the gold 
 fever soon caused him to sell out, in order to 
 try his fortune in California. Going there by 
 the overland route, he followed various occupa- 
 tions on the Pacific Coast for four years. Re- 
 turning then to Schenectady County, he leased 
 land in Glenville until 1863, since which year 
 he has resided upon his present farm of one 
 hundred and ten acres. He has a valuable 
 piece of agricultural property, with good build- 
 ings and modern improvements. He keeps 
 from twenty to twenty-five cows, and derives 
 considerable profit from the sale of milk. 
 
 On October 20, 1858, Mr. Clute was joined 
 in marriage with Agnes Swart, who was born 
 in Glenville, April 13, 1832, daughter of 
 J(jsias and Catharine (Vedder) Swart. Her 
 parents belonged to highly reputable families 
 of this county. Mrs. Clute is the mother of 
 three children, namely: KitteV., who is now 
 Mrs. McCulluni; h^lma, who is now Mrs. 
 Uick ; and Clarence Clute. 
 
 In politics Mr. Clute is a Democrat. To 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 IS7 
 
 the energy and perseverance which served him 
 so well in his boyhood days is due in a great 
 measure the prosperity he now enjoys, his 
 activity continuing unabated. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Clute are members of the Reformed church. 
 
 ^^yOHN S. GARY, a well-known resident 
 of Braman, in the town of Cobleskill, 
 and proprietor of one of the oldest 
 mills in this section of the county, was born 
 in Schoharie, in a house on the road to 
 Howes Cave, on July 19, 1827, son of Sam- 
 uel and Mercy (Swan) Gary. 
 
 His father, who was born in Stonington, 
 Conn., was brought up in Sprakers Basin, 
 Montgomery County, N.Y. , on a farm. He 
 also worked somewhat during boyhood at raft- 
 ing on the Mohawk River, but eventually 
 came to the farm of George Lawyer in 
 Schoharie Court House, and during the re- 
 mainder of his life was engaged in farm labor, 
 either there or on other farms in this county, 
 working on shares. His wife, Mercy, was the 
 daughter of a pioneer of Kno.x, Albany 
 County, who built the first mill in that 
 region. He was a stanch patriot in Revolu- 
 tionary times, and was in active service in the 
 army throughout the war, being eleven times 
 wounded. His wife lived to the surprising- 
 age of one hundred and three years. On her 
 one hundred and third birthday she rode 
 twenty miles on horseback, but the exertion 
 was too much for her, and she died from its 
 effects. Mrs. Mercy Gary was the youngest 
 of quite a large family of children. Of her 
 
 own children, seven in number, John S. was 
 the youngest, and is now the only one living. 
 
 Mr. John S. Gary spent his early years at 
 Barnerville, where he attended the public 
 schools. After leaving school he was en- 
 gaged for a time in selling dry goods and 
 small wares along the canal, but later settled 
 in Orleans County, where he worked for si.x 
 months in a wagon-building shop. At the 
 end of that time he came to Barneiville, and 
 opened a wagon-maker's shop in company 
 with Henderson Pollock. After working 
 there for some time he hired a shop near by, 
 and carried on wagon-making and painting 
 and some cabinet work. Going then to 
 Schoharie, he worked at carriage-building in 
 the winter and at painting in the summer for 
 a few years, and then began working as a 
 millwright along Cobleskill Creek and the 
 Schoharie River Valley. He built a large 
 number of grist and saw mills, and invented a 
 water-wheel of which he afterward constructed 
 and put in place about two hundred in this 
 and adjoining counties. In 1S75 he came to 
 his present mill. This he had repaired dur- 
 ing his early millwright work, it having been 
 built by his wife's grandfather, Peter Low- 
 meyers in 1790. A part of the original 
 structure is in use yet, and is in well-pre- 
 served condition. The mill has two stories 
 and a half. The lower floor is devoted to cus- 
 tom and merchant work, principally to the 
 manufacture of rye and buckwheat flour, which 
 is marketed in New York and in other States. 
 There arc three mill-runs, besides a "pony 
 stone." The second floor is devoted to puri- 
 
'58 
 
 l!I<)(;RArHKAL REVIEW 
 
 fyiiiL? and storing the grain, while the top floor 
 is used for scouring and cleaning grain and 
 for storage. This is one of the oldest mil's 
 in the section, as well as one of the largest 
 run by water power. Mr. Gary has now been 
 connected with milling interests for nearly 
 half a century, probably longer than any other 
 man now living in this region. 
 
 On the last day of January, 1849, Mr. Gary 
 was united in marriage with I'hoebe Gordon, 
 a native of Garlisle and daughter of John Gor- 
 don, a farmer of that town, who died at the 
 age of sixty years. Mrs. Gary was one of a 
 family of ten children, and has herself been 
 the mother of eight, of whom five are living. 
 •These are: Alice, Andrew, Laura, Rosalie, 
 and Walter. The three deceaseil are: Har- 
 riet, who dietl at the age of nine years of 
 diphtheria; Retta, who died at the age of 
 eighteen months; and Lyman H., who died 
 at the age of si.K months. Alice, who married 
 Henry Holmes McDonald, a carpenter and 
 contractor of bridges, has three children — 
 h'rank, John ]'., and Khoda. Andrew mar- 
 ried Gynderilla Severson, and has four chil- 
 dren — Hattie, Foster, Daisy, and Florence. 
 The son, Foster, is a i)ainter and decorator 
 in Cobleskill. Laura married Thomas Ghick- 
 ering, a merchant of Lawyersville. Rosalie, 
 who married Judd Bassett, ,1 farmer, has one 
 child, Ralph G. Walter Gary, an engineer, 
 married Jennie Merchant, and fas two sons 
 — Olin and Emery P. 
 
 Mr. Gary is Rc[)ublican in p(ditics. He 
 takes a warm interest in all ]uihlic matters, 
 but has never caretl to hold public office. He 
 
 is a member of the Masonic lodge at Goble- 
 skill, of De Witt Gouncil at Albany, and of 
 John L. Lewis Ghapter at Gobleskill. He 
 built the house in which he now resides, and 
 two others near by which are rented to ten- 
 ants; also one with a store adjoining, and 
 owns more houses than any other man in 
 town. In religious views Mr. Gary is a 
 Methodist. He is connected with the Meth- 
 odist church here, has been steward in the so- 
 ciety for many years, and an active worker in 
 the .Sunday-schocl. Mrs. Gary likewise has 
 been a member of the church since her early 
 girlhood. l\Tr. Gary is a progressive man. 
 He has been keenly alive to every plan pro- 
 mulgated for the improvement of the town, and 
 has kept his own ])roperty in unexcelled con- 
 dition. Down at the niiU he has built a large 
 wall eleven feet high, containing boulders 
 weighing a ton, to keep the water from over- 
 flowing. His other real estate jiroperty also 
 shows that it is constantly looked out for and 
 ne\'er allowed to lack rejiairs. 
 
 PL 
 
 ff?)OUI.S A. BOKN.S, proprietor of La 
 Tduraine, Tannersx'ille, was born in 
 the north of France, February 8, 
 1855, .son of Augustus and Josephine (de 
 Sainte Roch) lioeiis. His jiarents were na- 
 tives of Belgium, and his father, who was a 
 farmer, died at the age of thirty-eight. His 
 mother was twice married, and had si.x chil- 
 dren, Louis being the eldest by her second 
 husband. Mrs. ]?oens came to America with 
 five of hei" children. She spent her last days 
 
HE.\KV S. UK FORK ST. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 i6i 
 
 witli her son Louis, dying at the age of fifty- 
 eight. 
 
 Louis A. Boens accompanied the family to 
 the United States, first settling in ISelport, 
 Long Island, and a year later removing to 
 Hunter. His training in the business of hotel- 
 keeping was begun at the Laurel House, with 
 which he was connected in different capacities 
 for several years. In 1S89 be completed and 
 opened La Touraine, which was built and fur- 
 nished under his personal supervision, and has 
 accommodations for fifty guests. It is a favor- 
 ite resort for New York people, and has a large 
 patronage. The table is a special feature, and 
 is provided with poultry raised upon the 
 premises. 
 
 In 1886 Mr. Boens was united in marriage 
 with Kate Askin. Her parents, John and 
 Mary Askin, who are no longer living, had a 
 family of si.xteen children. Mr. Askin was a 
 native of Ireland. He died at the age of 
 eighty years. The Boens family attend the 
 Roman Catholic church. In politics Mr. 
 Boens acts with the Democratic party. 
 
 ■?)JON. HENRY S. DE FOREST, e.x- 
 Mayor of Schenectady and an exten- 
 sive real estate dealer, was born in 
 this city, February 16, 1S47, son of O. L. 
 and Sarah (Vedder) De Forest. 
 
 His great-grandfather Ue Forest and his 
 grandfather De Forest, both of whom were 
 named Jacob, were lifelong residents of Sche- 
 nectady County. Jacob De Forest, second, 
 
 was a well-to-do farmer and the father of a 
 large family of children, one of them a son 
 Jacob, who became a prosperous farmer, and 
 another Martin, who accpiired wealth in mer- 
 cantile pursuits, and was a man of prominence 
 in this section of the State. 
 
 O. L. De F'orest, born in this county in 
 1806, son of the second Jacob, was a cooper 
 by trade, and followed that business in this 
 city successfully for a number of years, or until 
 his death, which occurred in 1859. He served 
 as Sheriff of Schenectad}' County and also as a 
 Deputy. 
 
 His wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Nicholas 
 Vedder, of Schenectady County, whose ances- 
 tors were among the early Dutch settlers in 
 the Mohawk valley. Seven children were 
 born of their union, namely: Anna, who died 
 young; Rebecca, wife of Stephen D. Gates, of 
 this city; Jacob, a furniture dealer, who 
 served as Sheriff one term, and died in 1894, 
 aged about sixty-two years, leaving a widow and 
 five children; Ella, wdio married Christopher 
 Van Slyck, and died in 1894, leaving two 
 children; Frank V., Assistant Chief of Police; 
 Henry S., the subject of this sketch; and 
 Lansing, a farmer in the town of Glenville, 
 this count)-. The mother, Mrs. Sarah Vedder 
 De Forest, died in 1867, aged fifty-nine years. 
 Henry S. De Forest attended the Union 
 School, and completed his studies with a com- 
 mercial course at Eastman's Business College, 
 I'oughkeei)sie. Entering the emjiloy of his 
 brother-in-law, Christopher Van Sl\'ck, a 
 broom manufacturer, as clerk and book-keeper, 
 he was later admitted to partnership; and 
 
l62 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 after the dissolution of tliat firm, in 1878, he 
 became extensively engaged in tlie cultivation 
 of broom corn, which he carried on success- 
 fully for eight years. When a young man he 
 displayed a decided preference for the real es- 
 tate business, and his first land ])urchase con- 
 sisted of two lots for which he paid one hun- 
 dred dollars each. About the year 1886 he 
 turned his attention exclusively to city prop- 
 erty, his transactions in which during the last 
 twelve years have amounted to two million 
 dollars. He organized the syndicates which 
 erected the Edison Hotel, at a cost of one hun- 
 dred and eighty-five thousand dollars, and the 
 \'an Curler Opera House, com|ileted in 1893 
 at a cost of (jne hundred antl two thousand 
 dollars, of which he is the largest individual 
 owner. I're\ious to the business depression 
 of 1893, and since 1897, he lias erected man)- 
 hundreds of buildings for residence and business 
 purposes. He has laid out several thorough- 
 fares, including Foster A\enue, nam jil in honor 
 of Professor John Foster, of Union College; 
 Summit and East .Avenues; and Terrace Place. 
 These localities have been protected against 
 the encroachments of tlie litjunr traffic largely 
 through his instrumentality, and his excellent 
 judgment in regard to the real estate interests 
 of the city has jiroved exceedingly beneficial 
 to projjerty holders. He is one of the largest 
 owners of the Metropolitan Asiihalt Pavement 
 Company, which was organized in 1895, and 
 which has paved the princi|ial streets of this 
 city in a most satisfactory uKuiner. He is con- 
 sidered to-day the most extensive real estate 
 dealer and owner in Schenectadw He is also 
 
 the largest owner in the Sclienectady Daily 
 Gazette, the leading newspaper in the city. 
 
 Politically, he is a Democrat. He served 
 as City Recorder four years and as Mayor for 
 the same length of time, and deserves much 
 credit for giving the city a sound and progres- 
 sive administration. He was active in secur- 
 ing the erection of the new brick railway sta- 
 tion, and an entirely new sewer system was 
 among the number of pidjlic improvements 
 completed iluring his term of office. 
 
 On Sejitember 6, 1876, Mr. De Poorest mar- 
 ried Lucy E. Wan lipps, of this cit\-, daugiiter 
 of the late Harmon \'an lipps. They have 
 two daughters, namely : Ik'ulah, a recent grad- 
 uate of Lasell Seminar}-; and Pearl, aged 
 ele\'en years. 
 
 I\h'. iJe P'orest is a ilirector of the Schenec- 
 tady State Hank. He is a Master Mason and 
 a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation. His business office is located at 
 420 antl his residence at 436 State .Street. 
 As noted above, his influence and judgment 
 have long been prominent factois in shaping 
 the course of [niblic improvements in this city. 
 The fact that he began business without capi- 
 tal will enable those readers of the Rr;\ii'.\v 
 who ha\e hitherto been unfamiliar with his 
 early business life to better appreciate his un- 
 tiring eneig}' and perseverance. 
 
 I1.\UNCP:V smith, of WVst Cat- 
 
 skill, N. \'., dcLdei- in coal, bay, 
 
 straw, and grain, was boiii in Rox- 
 
 bur\', Helaware Coinit)', this State, on July 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 163 
 
 25, 1847. His parents were Jonas M. and 
 Deborah (Kater) Smith, both natives of Rox- 
 bury. His paternal grandfather was David 
 Smith, a native of Scotland. Immigrating to 
 this country, Da\id Smith settled in Roxbury, 
 and there made his home many years, his 
 death occurring at the advanced age of ninety- 
 one. His wife, Jane More, also born in Scot- 
 land, died at the age of eighty-nine. She was 
 the mother of a large family of children, of 
 whom the only survivor is R. B. Smith, of 
 Cortland, N.Y. 
 
 Jonas M. Smith was reared on a farm in 
 Ro.xbury. He was educated in the public 
 schools, and he subsequently taught school for 
 a while. Going west as far as Illinois, he 
 lived for a time in that State, and then re- 
 turned to his native town and started a variety 
 store, which he carried on until 1863. Re- 
 moving in that year to Ashland, Greene 
 County, he engaged in farming, also devoting 
 his energies to some extent to mercantile 
 affairs. Subsequently he came to Catskill, 
 where he died at the age of seventy-five. He 
 was a man of influence, and served as Town 
 Supervisor for four terms, as well as in other 
 positions of trust. His wife died at the age 
 of fifty-nine. All her four children are living. 
 They are: Chauncey, Mary, Nettie, and 
 Addie. Mary married William H. Tompkins, 
 of Ashland. Nettie is now Mrs. Lewis, and 
 Addie is Mrs. VViers. 
 
 Chauncey Smith remained in his native 
 town imtil he was seventeen years of age. 
 Going then to Ashland, he remained there 
 thirteen years, and at the end of that time he 
 
 came to Catskill. In 1877 he was engaged in 
 the steamboat business at the Point, and fiom 
 1S78 until 1892 he was in the flour and grain 
 business. For a part of this time, some nine 
 years, he also carried on a mill. He met with 
 excellent success, but finally gave up all other 
 business interests, and has since devoted him- 
 self to his coal and grain business, which is 
 one of the most prosperous enterprises in the 
 town. In 189S he erected the building whicii 
 he now uses. He has both wholesale and re- 
 tail trade, and is known as a man thoroughly 
 estimable and upright. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Smith was united in marriage 
 with Aravesta Lewis, who was born in Dur- 
 ham. Eight children have blessed this union; 
 namely, Vernon M., Howard C, Rayniontl E., 
 William H., Lizzie, Robert C. , Arthur, and 
 Clifford H. Vernon M. Smith is in the real 
 estate and insurance business in Iowa and 
 Minnesota. He married Maud Jennings, and 
 has one son, Chauncey Joseph. Howard C. is 
 a dealer in h(5rses, and resides in this town. 
 He married Carrie Crawford. Raymnntl and 
 William are in school. 
 
 Mr. Smith is a Republican. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Water Board and of the School 
 Board, and a trustee in the Savings Bank. 
 He was one of the organizers of the Catskill 
 Rural Cemetery, and is one of its trustees. 
 He and his wife and three of their sons are 
 members of the Methodist church. Mr. Smith 
 is a trustee of the church, and Mrs. Smith has 
 been a teacher in the Sunday-school. Both are 
 earnestl)' interested in all efforts to promote 
 the moral and spiritual growth of mankind. 
 
.64 
 
 BIOGRAriilCAL REVIEW 
 
 (sTr^^'J^ If- STERNBKRG, vice-president 
 and director of the Sliaron, Seward, and 
 Carlisle Insurance Company, and a 
 leatling ho|i-gro\ver of Seward, resides on the 
 Lniicnburg turnpike about thiee miles from 
 Seward village. He was born on the Sternberg 
 homestead in this town on April 17, 1S32, son 
 of Abraham and Anna M. (Wornnith) Stern- 
 berg, and is a representative of one of the old- 
 est families in Schoharie County. His great- 
 grandfather, Nicholas Sternberg, who was 
 born ill Schoharie, was a lineal descendant of 
 Lambert Sternberg, who came to America from 
 Germany. 
 
 Nicholas Sternberg was one of the pioneer 
 settlers of the town of .Sharon, now Seward. 
 He cleared land and bulk a log cabin near the 
 site where John H. Sternberg now lives. He 
 became x'ery [irosperous, and a ])romincnt man 
 in this section, and owned a tluur-mill and 
 some thiee hundred acres of land. 
 
 John .Sternberg, son of Nicholas, and grand- 
 father of John II. .Sternberg, w^as born on the 
 homestead and reared there. The property 
 eventually reverted to him, and he spent his 
 life in improving it. He built the present 
 house. A man of intelligence and .sound judg- 
 ment, he was highly respected by all with 
 whom he came in contact, and he was an espe- 
 cially valued member of the Lutheran church, 
 in which he held at different times all the 
 offices. His wife, whose maiden name was 
 Anna Shafer, was a native of this region. 
 She died at the advanced age of eighty years. 
 All of the eleven children born to this worth)' 
 pair grew to maturity. One of tlie sons. 
 
 named Le\i, was educated for the ministry in 
 the Lutheran church. John Sternberg served 
 for a time as Coroner. 
 
 Abraham Sternberg was born in the house 
 built by his father, and w-as educated in the 
 public schools of this district. He assisted 
 his father on the farm for some time, and 
 eventually assimied full management, carrying 
 on general farming. He cultivated about two 
 hundred acres of land. ^As a citizen he was 
 active and well-informed, and for many years 
 served as Supervisor, holding the office during 
 the trying days of the Civil War. He was 
 also Town Clerk for some years. For many 
 years he was a trustee of the Lutiieran church, 
 and was jjarticularly active at the time the new 
 building was erected. He also held other 
 offices of public trust, and was one of the 
 first to introduce hop-growing into Schoharie 
 County. He was also one of the original in- 
 corporators of the I'irst National l^ank of 
 Cohleskill. His wife, Anna, who is still liv- 
 ing at the age of eighty-one, was one of a large 
 family of children born to Henry VVormuth, of 
 Sharon, an early settler here, and by occupa- 
 tion a tanner and currier. As was her hus- 
 band, she has been a lifelong member of the 
 Lutheran church. .She has been the mother of 
 eight children, of whom there are still li\"- 
 ing — John H. ; James H., who is a physi- 
 cian at Waterloo, N. \'. ; hving, a physician 
 of Gouverneur, N.Y. ; Henrietta, who married 
 l^arnahas I-lldred; and Jertmie, who is a banker 
 in l'"rie, Pa. Jerome Sternberg has two sons, 
 who are in the same bank with him. 
 
 John H. Sternberg obtained a good ]iractical 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 165 
 
 education in tlie [uiblic schools near his home 
 and at Martwick Seminary. After completing 
 his studies he was for some years engaged in 
 farming on different farms away from Seward; 
 but in 1892 became back to his native place 
 and settled on his present farm, where he has 
 since been largely engaged in hop culture. 
 He has about fifty-two acres devoted to raising 
 this important crop. Mr. Sternberg was one 
 of the incorporators of the Sharon, Seward, 
 and Carlisle Insurance Company, of which he 
 has ever since been a director and agent, and 
 for the last si.x years vice-president. The 
 company is in a very prosperous condition, and 
 has a capital of a million and a quarter of 
 dollars. 
 
 In politics Mr. Sternberg is a Democrat. 
 He has been Collector of the town for some 
 time, and for a period of eight years, begin- 
 ning in iSgo, he filled the ofifice of Suijervisor. 
 He is the only man in the town who has held 
 this important oflice for so long a time. Mr. 
 Sternberg has been a lifelong member of the 
 Lutheran church, and has officiated in all the 
 different church offices. He is at the present 
 time serving as a trustee of the society. He 
 has also been warmly interested in the work of 
 the Sunday-school, and was formerly a teacher 
 therein. His wife is connected with the 
 church, and has also been a worker in the Sun- 
 day school. A number of their children are 
 church members. 
 
 Mr. Sternberg was united in marriage on 
 January 30, icS65, with M. Ellen Eldredge. 
 She was born in Sharon, near Sharon Springs, 
 daughter of Robert Eldredge, a native of 
 
 Sharon Springs. Her grandfather, Iiarnabas 
 Eldredge, was among the first settlers of that 
 place, and owned nearly all of the land where 
 the present village now stands. He kept a 
 tavern, and was interested in the manufacture 
 of saleratus. His seven sons, to each of whom 
 he gave a fine farm, became prominent men in 
 their section of the State, and some of them 
 were well-known hotel-keepers. They were 
 acti\-e in public affairs, and creditably perpet- 
 uated the memory of their father. Barnabas 
 Eldredge died at the age of seventy-two. He 
 was widely acquainted, and commanded the re- 
 spect of all who knew him. 
 
 Robert Eldredge was reared in his native 
 town. He sold the farm given him by his 
 father, and bought another near the church in 
 -Sharon, comprising about two hundred acres, 
 and located thereon a house and store. For 
 twelve years he was in business there, a well- 
 known merchant and a successful one. He 
 was at one time judge of the county, and 
 usually went by the name of Judge Eldredge. 
 He was also a Justice of the Peace, and his 
 opinion and advice were eagerly sought on im- 
 portant occasions. He died at the age of fifty- 
 three. Although not connected officially with 
 any church organization, he was a man of 
 straightforward Christian principle, and a be- 
 liever in the doctrines of the Universalist 
 church. His wife, whose maiden name was 
 Margaret Adams, is still living at Cobleskill, 
 in the full possession of all her faculties at 
 the ath'anced age of ninety-one years. She 
 was born in the town of .Sharon. .Six of her 
 seven children grew to maturity, and four of 
 
i66 
 
 BI0GRA1>H1C.\[, REVIEW 
 
 them are living, namely: Jdhn A. ; .M. Ellen; 
 Spencer, who resides at Dwiglit, 111. ; and 
 James, who is a merchant and Postmaster in 
 California. Horatio Olcott and I^lizabcth are 
 deceased. 
 
 Mrs. Sternberg resided with her |)arents 
 until her marriage. She was educated in the 
 common schools and in Ciierry Valley Acad- 
 eni)-. She has three children ; namel)-, How- 
 ard J., Charles A., and Robert K. The first 
 of these, who married Anna Vorhees, is jjro- 
 prietor of a hotel at Seward. Five children 
 have been boi'n to him, of whom four are liv- 
 ing, namely: Grace A., who is with Mrs. 
 Sternberg, and is attending school; Julia A. ; 
 George V. ; and Le Kay. Charles A. Stern- 
 berg married for his first wife Lizzie Clark, 
 who died at the age of twenty-two. He mar- 
 ried for his second wife Mamie Clark. He is 
 a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- 
 lege in New York City, and is now in practice 
 at Gloversville, having gone to that place from 
 Howes Cave. Robert Sternberg married 
 Louise Sneclecor. They have one child, I'Tor- 
 ence Louise, born June 17, 189S. Robert 
 Sternberg was born in Seward and worked 
 on the farm until he was sixteen years old. 
 He then attended Hartwick Seminary for 
 three years, and subsequently took a four 
 years' course at Cornell University, gradu- 
 ating in i8go with the degree of Bachelor 
 of Laws. He then taught school in Blue 
 Point, Long Island, for a time, and has since 
 been appointed School Commissioner of the 
 second district of Schoharie County, succeed- 
 ing Thomas K. P'inegan. He has held the 
 
 office since January i, 1893, and is regarded 
 as one of the most efficient officers in educa- 
 tional work in this section of the State. He 
 has fillet! in his leisure moments studying law, 
 and was admitted to the bar in March, 1899. 
 
 's^OSKl'H PUTMAN, who cultivates a 
 productive farm in Rotterdam, .Sche- 
 nectady County, N.\'. , was born in this 
 town May 3, 1833, son of Aaron and Nancy 
 (Hagerman) Putman. His father was born 
 here in 1805, and his grandfather, John Put- 
 man, was among the early residents. His 
 great-grandfather, Aaron Putman, first, who 
 came from Holland, settled in Rotterdam as a 
 pioneer. All of the above-named ancestors 
 were industrious farmers. 
 
 Aaron Putman, second, son of John, im- 
 [jroved the farm which his son Joseph now 
 owns, and was one of the able farmers of his 
 day. In politics he acted with the Republican 
 party, and was a Justice of the Peace for sev- 
 eral years. He was a member of the Dutch 
 Reformed church, and an earnest advocate of 
 temperance. He died at the age of seventy- 
 si.x )'ears. Nancy Hagerman Putman, his 
 wife, was a native of Amsterdam, N. Y, and 
 the locality in that town known as Hagerman's 
 Mills was named for her father. Of her chil- 
 dren two are living, namel\' : John A. Putman, 
 a real estate dealer in Brookhn; and Joseph, 
 the subject of this sketch. 'Phe others were : 
 Dr. P'rancis D. Putman, who died at the age 
 of twenty-three; Maggie V. Hagerman, who 
 dieil November 19, 1875; Klizabeth, who be- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 167 
 
 came Mrs. Sauter, and died in 1897; Ernes- 
 tus H., who died at tiie age of ten years; and 
 two children who died in infancy. The 
 mother lived to be eighty- two years old. 
 
 Joseph Putman acquired his education in the 
 schools of Rotterdam and Syracuse. When 
 thirteen years old he made himself useful 
 about the farm, and after completing his stud- 
 ies he gave his entire attention to farming at 
 the homestead. At the time of his marriage 
 he began to work the farm on shares, and he 
 continued to do so until his father's death, 
 when he purchased the interest of the other 
 heirs. He owns one hundred and twenty-five 
 acres of desirably located land, which afford 
 excellent opportunities for both tillage and 
 pasturage, and, aside from raising the usual 
 crops, he disposes of the milk of from fifteen 
 to twenty cows. 
 
 On September 10, 1862, Mr. Putman was 
 joined in marriage with Martha E. Shufelt, 
 who was born in Rotterdam, September 6, 
 1840. Her parents, George and Pauline 
 (Britton) Shufelt, are not living. Her father 
 was a prosperous farmer. Mrs. Putman is the 
 mother of two daughters — Purlie and Minnie, 
 both of whom reside with their parents. Pur- 
 lie married Van D. Sager, a building contrac- 
 tor, and has one son, Clinton Sager, who was 
 born June 22, 1892. Minnie is the wife of 
 George H. Putman, an employee at the Edison 
 Electric Works, Schenectady, and has one son, 
 Joseph W. , who was born January 9, 189S. 
 
 Although taking a lively interest in town 
 affairs, and supporting at the polls the candi- 
 dates for local positions whom he considers 
 
 most desirable, Mr. Putman has never cared to 
 hold i)ublic office himself. In national elec- 
 tions he acts with the Republican party. He 
 is sincerely respected for his sterling integrity 
 and high moral chai"acter. He is a member of 
 the Reformed church. 
 
 ^OHN B. KNIFFEN, late a leading hop- 
 gr-ower of Middleburg, N. Y. , and, at 
 the time of his death, on January 25, 
 1899, the only hop-buyer with an office in the 
 town, was born at New Baltimore, Greene 
 County, on Jidy 5, 1S35. H<2 "^^'^s ^ ■''"" of 
 John and Sophia (Ci'ook) Kniffen, and de- 
 scended from a line of agriculturists sprung 
 from English stock. His first ancestor in this 
 country came from England to a farm in New 
 Jersey. His grandfather Kniffen removed 
 from New Jersey to this State in early man- 
 hood, and spent the remainder of his life in 
 New Baltimoi-c, where he died in extreme old 
 age, lacking only three years of having reached 
 a full century. 
 
 John Kniffen, father of John B., was born 
 in New Baltimore, and was there educated in 
 the public schools. He was reared to a 
 farmer's life, but also did some work at the 
 stone cutter's trade. Although strong and 
 healthy, with every prospect of a long life, he 
 was stricken dcjwn in the fulness of manhood, 
 and died at the age of fifty-three from ty[)hoid 
 fever. He was a zealous member of the Meth- 
 odist F^piscopal church, one of the trustees of 
 the society, and for many years a class leader. 
 He was a noted exhorter and a powerful man 
 
1 68 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in prayer. His wife, So])hia, who died at the 
 age of seventy-six, was also a lifelon<; and ac- 
 tive Methodist. She was the motiier of four 
 sons and live dauglUers, and of these nine cliil- 
 dren the subject of this sl<etch was the latest 
 survivor. 
 
 Jolm B. Kiiiffen received a practical educa- 
 tion in tlie pidjlic schools, and durinj;- vacation 
 time worked on his father's farm, where he 
 learned the art of successful farming. At 
 eighteen years of age he came to Middleburg, 
 where until he reached his majority he worked 
 by the month on farms, and at the same time 
 made arrangements so that he was enabled to 
 attend school iluring the winter. At the age 
 of twenty-one he purchased a farm of some 
 forty acres, which formed the nucleus of his 
 later splendid property of over three hundred 
 acres. As a farmer he was very successful ; 
 and he and his son, who was in business with 
 liim for a number of years, were looked upon 
 as two of the most progressive agriculturists in 
 this legion. The Kniffen estate embraces 
 jjractically two farms, both of which arc in a 
 high state of cultivation. All the buildings 
 on the farm upon which he lived, and also the 
 house wdiere his son lives, were built by Mr. 
 Kniffen. In iS6o he began the culture of 
 
 lops in a small wa}', being among 
 
 the first 
 
 here to engage in that enterprise. He con- 
 stantly increased the scale of his o])erati()ns, 
 and in his later years had some fifty acres de- 
 voted to hop-growing, producing annually some 
 one hundred and twenty-five bales of hops. In 
 1880 he began Iniying hojis, and fiom that 
 time on he was interested with Cliarlcs S. 
 
 May, wlio is proprietor of one of tlie largest 
 hop markets in Albany. Mr. Kniffen was the 
 first man in Middleburg to become a buyer, 
 and he was latterly, as before mentioned, the 
 only one in town who had an office. He 
 raised grain of different kinds on his farm. 
 Mr. Kniffen was married in 1S55 to Tabitha 
 Wormer, a native of Middleburg, and daughter 
 of John Wormer, a successful and ]irominent 
 farmer of this jjlace. Of the four sons and 
 four daughters born of this union, seven chil- 
 dren are living, namely: I']mer\- \\'., who was 
 in business with his father; luskine; Mstella; 
 Amoretta; Kvchn ; Frank; and lilliot. I''r- 
 skine, who married Molly ]5owman, is in the 
 insurance business connected with the Mutual 
 Reserve Friend Association. Estella is the 
 wife of Luther Jackson, overseer of the North 
 Shore Road at .South Schenectady, and is tlie 
 mother of seven children — John, h'lora, 
 I""rank, Harry, Claude, Clarence, and I^'ord, 
 who is deceaseil. Aniorctta married Charles 
 D. Mitchell, who is in a shoe factory at I5ing- 
 hamton. They have a family of three chil- 
 dren — by name, lielle, Clifford, and I'^orrest. 
 Evelyn is the wife of Clarence McHain, a 
 member of the firm of Bassler & Co., of Mid- 
 dleburg, and she is the mother of four children 
 — Nellie, John, Louisa, and Alice Leona. 
 Frank, who also is a farmer and was interested 
 in business with his father, married Dora 
 Crosby, and has one daughter, Delia. Flliot 
 Kniffen resides near the old home, and is in- 
 terested in bee culture, in poultry raising, and 
 in general farming. He married lilla \'an 
 Voras. 
 
CEORGE \V. IJKI.LIXCKR. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 169 
 
 In politics Mr. Kniffen was a stanch Demo- 
 crat. He was a member of Middleburg 
 Lodge, No. 66t,, V. & A. M., with which he 
 had l3een connected for twenty years, and he 
 was buried with Masonic honors. He fol- 
 lowed the religious faith of which his father 
 was so devoted a disciple, and was one of the 
 strong men in the Methodist church at Middle- 
 burg. He was a member of it for forty years, 
 and his wife and nearly all of his children are 
 members. At the time the new church edifice 
 was erected, Mr. Kniffen contributed a thou- 
 sand dollars toward its construction. 
 
 /3)eORGE W. BELLINGER, editor and 
 V|^J_ publisher of the Cobleskill Iitdcx at 
 Cobleskill, N.Y., was born in this town, De- 
 cember 18, 1843. His father, George Bel- 
 linger, was born, bred, and educated in 
 Seward, Schoharie County, where he worked 
 at farming until sixteen years old, and then 
 learned the blacksmith's trade. When ready 
 to establish himself permanently, George Bel- 
 linger came to Cobleskill, and was here indus- 
 triously employed at his trade until his death, 
 June 26, 1867. He married Miss Caroline 
 Shafer, a daughter of Jacob Shafer, a prosper- 
 ous farmer of this town, and a descendant of 
 one of its earlier pioneers. Two children 
 were born of their union; namely, George W., 
 and a child that died when young. The 
 mother is still living in Cobleskill. 
 
 George \V. Bellinger received a practical 
 education in the public schools of his district. 
 Having become interested in the subject of 
 
 photography when a young man, he had an 
 opportunity to learn the art in 1865, when Mr. 
 Oswald Burnett opened the first regular studio 
 in the town on the third floor of the building 
 now occupied by Charles H. Schaffer. Mr. 
 Bellinger proved an apt pupil, and in a short 
 time bought out his employer. Being a man 
 of enterprise and good business ability, well 
 endowed with artistic talent, he met with e.\- 
 'cellent success, and, having gained a wide 
 reputation for superior skill, he won an exten- 
 sive and lucrative patronage in this and sur- 
 rounding town.s. Removing to the present 
 site of the dental parlors of Dr. L. T. Browne, 
 he there carried on his work until the fire of 
 1873, which destroyed all of his equipments. 
 
 The following month Mr. Bellinger em- 
 barked in a new career. He bought the 
 Cobleskill Index, which was established in 
 1865 by William H. Week and the Hon. 
 Henry E. Abel, and during the twenty-six 
 years that this paper has since been under his 
 management be has kept it in a leading posi- 
 tion among the local journals of Schoharie 
 County. It has been greatly enlarged, its cir- 
 culation increased fourfold, and its subscrip- 
 tion rate reduced from a dollar and a half to 
 one dollar per year. Through its columns he 
 has been a strong advocate of all movements 
 tending to benefit the community, and has ren- 
 dered valuable aid to the Democratic party by 
 his sound and stirring editorials. He has also 
 been influential in establishing different organ- 
 izations in the locality, among them being the 
 Cobleskill Agricultural Society, ft)rnied in 
 1876, largely by his personal efforts and his 
 
lyo 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 "talks" on the subject in the Index. Mr. 
 Bellinger was a member of this association's 
 board of management from its inception to the 
 year 1S9S, and during a like period he served 
 without salary as its secretary. 
 
 He has also been secretary and treasurer of 
 the Cobleskill Rural Cemetery Association six 
 years, and has served two terms as one of the 
 village trustees. He is i)rominently connected 
 with the I'arniers' and Merchants' Bank, of 
 which he was one of the ])rojectors, as a mem- 
 ber of the finance committee, and is president 
 of the Schoharie and Otsego Mutual l'"ire In- 
 surance Company. In politics he has always 
 been a loyal Democrat. 
 
 In the year 1871 Mr. Bellinger niairied 
 Miss Minnie Moulton, the only daughter of 
 the Hon. F. P. Moulton, an able and influen- 
 tial citizen of Montgomery County. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bellinger have two children, namely: 
 Vernon M., teller in the Farmers' and Mer- 
 chants' Bank ; and Maud S. 
 
 "1:RBI:RT KIPP, general merchant and 
 proprietor of the Kipp House, Le.\- 
 ington, Greene County, N. Y. , was 
 b(jrn in this town March 6, 1852, son of Isaac 
 antl Nancy (Van Heusen) Kipji. He is of 
 Dutch descent. Isaac Kipp, first, his great- 
 grandfather, was a pioneer settler of Dutchess 
 County, New York. Benjamin Kipp, son of 
 Isaac, first, resided in Dutchess County until 
 twenty-one years old, when he came to Greene 
 County. The trades of a carjicnter and mill- 
 wright, which he had previously learned, he 
 
 followed in this locality for twenty years, or 
 until 1802, when he purchased a farm in Lex- 
 ington. Here he resided until his death, 
 which occurred in 1837, at the age of si.\ty 
 years. He married Sally Noyes, a native of 
 New Jersey, and became the father of eleven 
 children. The survivors of this family are: 
 Isaac, second; and Harriet, who married a Mr. 
 Jones, of Hartford, Conn. Mrs. Sally N. 
 Kipp died at the age of seventy-one years. 
 
 Isaac Kipp, second, father of Herbert, was 
 born in this town, Ajiril 12, 1818. He fol- 
 lowed farming on the homestead until 1S50, 
 when he went to California, and was fairly 
 successful in the gokl mines on the middle 
 fork of the American River. After spending 
 a \-ear there, he returned to Lexington, and re- 
 mained on the home farm until 1858, when he 
 made a trip to Pike's Peak. In 1877 he opened 
 the general store now carried on by his .son, 
 and under the firm name of 1. Kijip & Son 
 conducted a profitable enteriirise until 1887, 
 when he disposed of his interest and went to 
 Nebraska. The next five years he spent ujion 
 a farm in that State, and then he once more 
 returned to his native town, where he is now 
 residing with liis son. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. He was .Sujiervisor two terms, and 
 he acted as a Justice of the Peace forty years. 
 He is a member and a trustee of the Baptist 
 church. His wife, Nancy, was a native of 
 Lexington, daughter of Cornelius Van Heu- 
 sen, a farmer. She died at the age of sixty 
 years, having been the mother of six children. 
 The five now living are: Mary, who married 
 William II. Mosher, of South Dakota; C. L. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Kipp, who is Postmaster at Lexington; Her- 
 bert, the subject of this sketch ; Jennie, who 
 married R. L. Hogaboom ; and Edwin L. 
 Kipp. 
 
 Herbert Kipp was educated in the schools 
 of Lexington and at Eastman's Business Col- 
 lege, Poughkeepsie. He worked on the home 
 farm and also had charge of a stage route until 
 1876, when he went to Illinois and spent one 
 year. In 1S77 he, in company with his 
 father, engaged in general mercantile business 
 in Lexington, and the partnership continued 
 until 18S7, when he bought the elder Kipp's 
 interest. For the next two years he was asso- 
 ciated with his brother, C. L. Kipp, and since 
 1889 he has conducted the establishment 
 alone. He occupies two floors, the main store 
 being thirty by fort}' feet, with an annex forty 
 by twelve feet, and carries a full line of gro- 
 ceries, boots, shoes, hats, caps, hardware, flour, 
 grain, drugs, carpets, oil cloths, dry goods, 
 notions, and other articles of general merchan- 
 dise. In connection with his mercantile busi- 
 ness he conducts the Kipp House, a favorite 
 summer resort, accommodating fifty guests. 
 
 In 1 88 1 Mr. Kipp was united in marriage 
 with Miss Mary F. Jones, of Jewett, daughter 
 of Benjamin Jones, a farmer, who resides with 
 a son, and is now ninety years old. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kipp arc the parents of three children — 
 Pearl, Clara May, and Ralph. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Kipp acts with the Demo- 
 cratic party. He was Postmaster under Cleve- 
 land's first administration four years, held the 
 same office three years during President Harri- 
 son's, administration, and was Supervisor one 
 
 term. He is a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Kipp attend the Bap- 
 tist church. 
 
 OHN H. FRANCE, the representative 
 of a pioneer family of Seward, Scho- 
 harie County, has a well-improved farm 
 located on the road to the Seward Depot, about 
 six miles from Cobleskill and two miles from 
 the village of Hyndsville. He was born in 
 Seward, March 30, 1S34, and this town was 
 also the birthplace of his father, Peter France 
 — or Uncle Peter, as he was familiarly known. 
 Tracing the line back to the great-grand- 
 father, we find a Revolutionary patriot, of 
 whom and his family this story is told: 
 While he was off at Schoharie defending the 
 fort, his sons, Henry and John, who had re- 
 mained at home, were taken prisoners. John 
 was killed; but Henry, the grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch, fortunately escaped from 
 his captors, and after lying in the woods for a 
 day or two made his way home. 
 
 Henry France came to Seward in Colonial 
 days, while yet a young man, and took up a 
 tract of unbroken land in the depths of the for- 
 est. A few years later he removed to an ad- 
 joining farm, and was there engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits until his death, at the age of 
 fourscore and eight years. He united with 
 the Lutheran church in early manhood, but 
 was afterward an active member of the Meth- 
 odist church. He was interested in the cause 
 of temperance, and through his influence the 
 use of liquor in the harvest field was abolished. 
 
>7 = 
 
 BIOGRArillCAL REVIEW 
 
 II is wife bore him fourteen children, one of 
 whom is now living — Gilbert, a farmer in 
 Seward. 
 
 Peter France spent his life of seventy-four 
 years in Seward, receiving his education in the 
 district school, and on the home farm acquir- 
 ing a practical knowledge of agriculture. On 
 leaving the parental roof he purchased land at 
 Sewartl Vallc\-, then known as Neeley Hollow, 
 where he spent some years. Selling that he 
 bought the estate on which his son, John U., 
 now resides, and from that time until his death 
 was prominently identified with the agricult- 
 ural interests of this part of the town. Pos- 
 sessing a good fund of general information, 
 and being a man f)f s(jund judgment, he was 
 often called upon for counsel and advice, and 
 his opinions were always respected. In poli- 
 tics he affiliated with the Democrats prior to 
 the Rebellion, but after that time was a stanch 
 Republican. Iniluential in local affairs, he 
 served as Overseer of the Poor and as High- 
 way Commissioner for several years. His 
 wife, Elizabeth Diefendorf, was born at Frey's 
 15ush, Montgomery County, N. Y. , one of the 
 twelve children of a jiioneer farmer, John Die- 
 fendorf. Both parents united with the Meth- 
 odist church when young, and as true Chris- 
 tians exemplified its teachings in their tlaily 
 lives, l^oth were active in church work, the 
 father being class leader of the Seward Valley 
 church society for many years, and their hosiji- 
 lable home was ever open to the ministers of 
 the circuit. They reared three children, as 
 follows: John H., the subject of this sketch; 
 Fmeline, wife of Sylvester Rewland, of Mnr- 
 
 risville, N.Y. ; and Louisa. The latter, who 
 died October 17, 1S92, after many years of 
 illness, was wife of the late Norman Ottman, 
 a graduate of the Normal School. Mr. Ott- 
 man was for some years a teacher in Seward, 
 and afterward was here engaged as a merchant 
 until the breaking out of the Civil War. En- 
 listing then as a private in Colonel Plllsworth's 
 regiment, the One Hundred and Forty-fourth 
 New York Volunteer Infantr\', he went bravely 
 forth to serve his country, and was killed in 
 battle. 
 
 John H. France receivetl a gootl common 
 school education, and till he was twenty-five 
 years of age assisted his father in farming. 
 Then taking the farm on shares, he carried it 
 on successfully until the death of his father, 
 when the whole estate of one hundred and 
 twenty acres came into his possession. He 
 has since continued in his chosen vocation, 
 and besides harvesting excellent crojis of hay 
 and grain each season he has raised large quan- 
 tities of hops, a staple product of this region. 
 He keeps about fifteen Jersey and Durham 
 cows, and makes a fine quality of butter, with 
 which he supplies private customers in Troy 
 and -Albany. His farm is well equi|iped with 
 modern machinery and implements for carrving 
 on his work; and the buildings, wbich were 
 nearly all erected by his father, are kc|)t in 
 fine repair. 
 
 Mr. P^rance is a Repul)lican in ixilitics, and 
 has served as Inspector of hllections in his 
 town. lie is a charter member of the local 
 organization of fiood Templars, and also of 
 the Seward Grange, P. of H., in which he has 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 17^ 
 
 held all the offices up to Master. In the 
 former society he was for several years the 
 Chaplain. One of the most active and influ- 
 ential members of the Methodist church, he 
 materially assisted in building the new house 
 of worship of this denomination, and in remod- 
 elling the old one at Seward Valley. He was 
 the first child christened in the first frame 
 church edifice erected in this jjart of the coun- 
 tr)-, and having joined the church at the age of 
 sixteen, he is now, with but few e.vceptions, 
 the oldest member of this locality. He has 
 been trustee and class leader, and was for a 
 number of years chorister of the Methodist 
 Episcopal choir, in which he and his children 
 sang. Since a boy of fourteen he has been 
 connected with the Sunday-school as pupil, 
 teacher, or superintendent, having held the 
 latter position three terms, and during the 
 past five years has had charge of the ladies' 
 Bible class. 
 
 Mr. France has been twice married. On 
 June 12, 1855, was solemnized his union with 
 Orpha Diefendorf. She was born in Seward, 
 a daughter of George Diefendorf, and was one 
 of fourteen children ; namely, Susan, Sylvester, 
 Jacob, Henrietta, Salina, Jane, Judson, (.)rpha, 
 Sophronia, Peter, Abraham, Wealthy, Rensse- 
 laer, and Nancy. She died at the age of 
 thirty-four years, leaving five children, of 
 whom the following is a brief record : Clarence 
 I.., a skilful farmer and able business man of 
 Cobleskill, married Allie I'v.ose, and has three 
 children — Anson, Grace, and Harry; luriory 
 died at the age of four years; Welton, a farmer 
 in Seward, married Clara Hevener, and has 
 
 four children — Ezra, Sadie, Norman, and 
 Hattie; Allie May, wife of Charles Sutpheii, 
 a farmer near Richmondville, has three chil- 
 dren — John, Emma, and Orpha; Lizzie mar- 
 ried Jacob Van Woert, a son of the Rev. Jacob 
 Van Woert, formerly pastor of the Dutch Re- 
 formed church. Her husband, who for several 
 years was an instructor in the Cobleskill High 
 Schonl, died at the age of twenty-five years, 
 leaving her with two children — Dora D. and 
 Jacob H. She now lives with her father. 
 
 On June 27, 1869, Mr. France married Mrs. 
 Sarah Wigley, who was born at Fonda, Mont- 
 gomery County, N. Y. , a daughter of Frederick 
 Dockstaden, a farmer. By her first husband, 
 Gilbert Wigley, she has one child, William 
 Wigley, who is a fireman on the New York 
 Central Railway. He married Ella Card, and 
 has had three children — Willie, Bernice, and 
 Byron, the last two being deceased. 
 
 LEXANDER MacMILLEN, one of the 
 most influential citizens of Carlisle, 
 Schoharie County, was born in 
 Bethlehem, Albany County, N.Y., on October 
 4, 1842, son of James and Ellen N. (Waldron) 
 MacMilJen. His great-grandfather MacMillen 
 was a Scotch emigrant who settled in Alban_\'. 
 His grandfather, who i^esided in New Scot- 
 land, N. Y. , died there at eighty-si.x years of 
 age. He was a farmer and a leading politi- 
 cian among the old time Whigs. He occupied 
 prominent civil offices, such as those of Super- 
 visor and Ccdlector, and was one of the active 
 and influential members of the Presbyterian 
 
'74 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 cluiich. He had a family of ele\cn children, 
 seven sons and four daughters, all of whom are 
 now deceased. They were: John, Andrew, 
 James, Henry, Alexander, William, Aaron, 
 Mary, Nancy, Catherine, and one whose name 
 is not remembered. Of these, James, father 
 of Alexander MacMillen, was the onh' one that 
 settled in this county. Most of these brothers 
 were Republicans politically, and were asso- 
 ciated with the Presbyterian church. James, 
 however, was a Methodist. He was a quiet, 
 conservative man, thoroughly well-informed on 
 the topics of the day. He left his childhood's 
 home at about fourteen years of age, and a 
 number of years after his marriage he came to 
 Carlisle and bought the farm where his son 
 Alexander, then eight years old, now lives. 
 It was then known as the Henr)' Best farm. 
 It contained, originally, a hundred acres, but 
 since it came into possession of its present 
 owner it has been enlarged by the addition of 
 twenty acres. James MacMillen was married 
 three times, and had two children — Alexander 
 antl William. The latter enlisted in the 
 northern army when under the age of the draft- 
 mark, saw gallant service at Fairfax Court- 
 house, and subsequently died of typhoid fever. 
 He had i)reviously worked with his father on 
 the farm; and his death, while a severe shock 
 to all his family, was especially affecting to 
 his father. 
 
 Alexander MacMillen is the leading Repub- 
 lican in Carlisle, and one of the most ])romi- 
 ncnt in the county. Somewhat singular is the 
 fact that he has attended only two caucuses in 
 his whole life. Three times he has been Su- 
 
 pervisor of Carlisle, being the secoml Repub- 
 lican in this strongly Democratic town to hold 
 that office, the other Republican holding 
 it for only one term. Though a member of 
 the minority party, he met with defeat only 
 once or twice, and then by no larger majority 
 than twenty. He has served for many years 
 on the Republican county committee. Mr. 
 MacMillen is the largest land-owner in town, 
 and the wealthiest citizen of Carlisle. For 
 the last twenty-eight years he has been a suc- 
 cessful hop-grower, probably making a greater 
 success of that industr\- than any other farmer 
 in the locality. About a hundred acres of his 
 farm are cleared land, and in addition to his 
 hop crops he has raised general produce. He 
 formerly owned three other farms, which had 
 come to him through the foreclosures of mort- 
 gages, but these he has now dis])osed of. He 
 is the largest tax-pa\er in Carlisle. Mr. Mac- 
 Millen was a stockholder in the old bank at 
 Cobleskill, and is a charter member, stock- 
 holder, and director in the new bank. He 
 owns fifty shares, the largest number owned by 
 one man. Mr. MacMillen and his wife are 
 among the strongest sujiporters of the Meth- 
 odist church in this ])lace, and both sing in 
 the clioir. Mrs. MacMillen is a member of 
 the church, and an active worker in the Sun- 
 day-school, in which she has been a teacher 
 for man}- years. When the Christian En- 
 deavor .Society was starleil here, she became 
 its president. 
 
 The maiden name of Mrs. MacIMillen, who 
 was married in 1S64, was P>cline Hraclt, and 
 she is a daughter of William Bratit, deceased. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 '75 
 
 formerly a farmer of Cobleskill. Her paternal 
 grandfather, who came hither from Albany 
 County, cleared the farm and built the house 
 now standing on it. Her grandfather, James 
 Boughton, who lived to the advanced age of 
 ninety years, was the leading man in the Pres- 
 byterian church at Carlisle, and in his last 
 years he sat in one of the chairs inside the 
 altar rail. Mrs. MacMillen's father was a 
 member of the Dutch Reformed church. He 
 had a family of four children. Mr. and Mrs. 
 MacMillen have one child, William A., who 
 since attending the Albany Business College 
 has been in business with his father. He 
 married Ada Dockstader, and has one son, 
 Irvin A. 
 
 'RANK AKELEY, dealer in general 
 merchandise at West Fulton, was born 
 here on October 20, 185 1, his parents being 
 James and Sally J. (Shutts) Akeley. 
 
 James Akeley, who was born in January, 
 1 812, came to this town in 1840, and settled 
 on a fine farm of about two hundred acres, near 
 what is now his son's store, and here he re- 
 mained engaged in agriculture until his death 
 in 1861, at about the age of fifty. His wife, 
 Sally, survived him many years, and died in 
 February, 1898. She was the daughter of 
 John Shutts, of Greenville, Greene County, 
 a lifelong and prominent farmer, and also a 
 veterinary surgeon. Iler mother was of Con- 
 necticut birth. Mr. and Mrs. Shutts had a 
 family of four children. Of these the only 
 survivor is Mrs. Salome Hart, who resides 
 
 near Greenville. Seven children were born to 
 Mr. and Mrs. James Akeley, and all are liv- 
 ing. They are : Edgar, w-ho resides at Coble- 
 skill; Emily, who is the wife of William 
 Richards; Dr. John S., who is a physician in 
 Ravena, Albany County; Martin A., who is 
 County Clerk of Schoharie County; Lorenzo, 
 farmer and Supervisor (1899) ; Frank, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; and Mary J., who married 
 John Hinds, of Greenville. Both parents at- 
 tended the Methodist church. 
 
 Mr. Frank Akeley, after obtaining his educa- 
 tion in the common .schools of his native vil- 
 lage and at the Normal School at Albany, 
 taught school for a while. In 1871 he went to 
 work in the store of M. B. Fellows, situated 
 opposite his present place of business, and 
 there remained until 1875, when he went to 
 New York for a short time. Later in the 
 same year he returned, and began teaching the 
 school at West F'ulton. During the farming 
 season of that year, 1876, he worked for si.x 
 months on a farm, but in the fall- taught school 
 at Fulton. Not long after he bought his pres- 
 ent building, and since that time he has had 
 a prosperous career as a merchant. He carries 
 a large stock of goods, including groceries, 
 boots and shoes, dry goods, ready-made cloth- 
 ing, underwear, glassware and hardware, patent 
 medicines, and, to some extent, farming im- 
 plements. A gradual increase of stock has 
 made it necessary for him to have enlarged 
 quarters; and, since starting, he has opened a 
 second floor, so that he has now an exceedingly 
 well-equi|5ped business. 
 
 In politics Mr. Akeley is a Republican. 
 
176 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RFA'IEW 
 
 For a time he served as Assistant Postmaster. 
 He was married in iSSi to Klniina Zeli, a na- 
 ti\e of Hreakabeen, and daughter of Adam and 
 Nancy (Shafer) Zeh. Mr. Zeh was a lifelong 
 farmer. He had four children. After his 
 death his widow married a second time. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Akeley have one child, Hazel, who 
 is at school. Mr. Akeley has .served on the 
 county committee. He is liberal in religious 
 views, and believes in dealing with unques- 
 tionable honesty in all his business transac- 
 tions. 
 
 i:\'. CHARLES WADSWORTH 
 I'lTCHER, pastor of the Reformed 
 Dutch church at Middleburg, 
 Schoharie County, is one of the most able, 
 progressive, and popular clergymen of his de- 
 nomination and a highly esteemed citizen. 
 He was born March 2, 1S49, near Cohoes, 
 Albany County, a son of the Rev. William 
 Pitcher, whose birthplace was Red Hook, 
 Dutchess County, N.Y. His paternal grand- 
 father, who was an officer in the War of 1S12, 
 was a prosperous farmer and an extensive land- 
 holder at L'piier Red Llook, where he died at 
 the advanced age of fourscore years. His 
 wife, Catherine Kipp, also attained a ripe old 
 age. Both were members of the Dutch Re- 
 formed Church of Upper Red Hook. They 
 had five children, none of whom are now^ 
 living. 
 
 The Rev. William Pitcher was reared on the 
 home farm, and obtained his elementary educa- 
 tion in the district school.s. He .subsequently 
 studied at Williams College and Princeton 
 
 Seminary. He began his professional life as 
 pastor of a Dutch Reformed church at Jackson, 
 N.Y. ; and three years later he assumed charge 
 of the " ]5oght " church at Watervliet, three 
 miles from the village of Cohoes. After a 
 faithful service of thirteen years in that place 
 he accepted a call to South Branch, Somerset 
 County, N.J., where a church, .sniLilI in num- 
 bers, had been but a short time organized. He 
 labored there twenty-seven years, a long and 
 successful pastorate, in which he built up a 
 flourishing society. Going then to Greenwich, 
 W'ashington County, N.Y. , he there lived in 
 retirement until his demise, at the age of 
 seventy-three years. He was a gifted speaker, 
 a sermonizer of especial note; and many of his 
 pulpit discourses, published in book form, 
 were forcible exponents of his theological be- 
 lief. A man of strong personality and unusual 
 sweetness of character, he led a pure. Chris- 
 tian life, and in a rare degree won the love 
 and esteem of all with w^hom he came in con- 
 tact. He was three times married. JHs first 
 wife, Mary Ann Wadsworth, died in young 
 womanhood, leaving one son, De Wilt Pitcher, 
 now a book-keeper in Hudson, N. \'. His 
 second wife, Jane I".. Wadsworth, sister to his 
 first wife, was born at Bantam Falls, Litch- 
 field County, Conn., a daughter of Henry 
 Wadsworth, a prosperous merchant. She was 
 a sister of the Rev. Charles Wadsworth, D. D. , 
 of Philadelphia, and James L. Wadsworth, 
 who is now living retired from active [uirsuits 
 in Darien, Conn. Of the children born of 
 this union two are now living, namely: 
 Charles W. , the special subject of this sketch; 
 
CHARLES \V. ITICHKR 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 179 
 
 and Jane E., wife of \V. B. Warner, a photog- 
 rapher at Northport, Long Island. The mother 
 died at the age of thirty-six years, and the 
 father subsequently married Mary Ann McLean. 
 The Rev. Charles W. Pitcher received his 
 elementary education in the public schools of 
 South Branch, N.J., which be left at the age 
 of si.xteen years to go to New York City, 
 where he was clerk in a jewelry store and in a 
 dry-goods store for four }ears. He then con- 
 tinued his studies at a select school in Ne- 
 .shanic, N.J. , and at Rutgers Grammar School 
 in New Bnmswick, which he attended two 
 years, and after that at Rutgers College four 
 years and at the theological seminary two 
 years. On January 26, 1S76, having pre- 
 viously been licensed to preach by the Newark 
 Congregational Association, he was ordained 
 to the ministry at Randolph, N. Y. , and at 
 once took charge of the weak and struggling 
 society, which in 1883 he left in a most flour- 
 ishing condition, it ha\-ing doubled numeri- 
 cally and financially under his efificient labors. 
 The ensuing four years he was pastor of the 
 church at Stanton, N.J., which under his 
 guidance was wonderfully re\'ived, large num- 
 bers being added to the organization, which 
 increased in usefulness each year, and, accord- 
 ing to the stated clerk of the classis to which 
 it belongs, reached the highest degree of pros- 
 perity in its history. From 1887 until 1891 
 Mr. Pitcher had charge of the Kirkpatrick Me- 
 morial Church at Ringoes, N.J., where his 
 efforts were again blessed with success. Under 
 his fervent and eloquent preaching of the 
 gospel, great interest was awakened ; and, dur- 
 
 ing a great revi\-al that followed, sixty mem- 
 bers w-ere added to the church in one Sunda}', 
 forty of the converts being baptized that da)'. 
 Coming from there to Middleburg, he has 
 here been exceedingly prospered in his relig- 
 ious work, the church having grown as regards 
 both its membership and its influence. A 
 faithful and conscientious worker in the Mas- 
 ter's \'ine)ard, he has not only endeared him- 
 self to his immediate parishioners, but has won 
 the respect of the entire community. 
 
 On July 14, 1875, Mr. Pitcher was married 
 to Anna M., daughter of Abraham and Ann E. 
 (Naylor) Amerman. Her parents were natives 
 and lifelong residents of Somerset County, 
 New Jersey, where the mother died when 
 sixty years old, and the father, who was a 
 prominent citizen of South Branch, a miller 
 and merchant, died at the age of threescore 
 and ten years. Mrs. Pitcher is one of a fam- 
 ily of four children, all of whom are li\'ing, 
 the other three being: Theodore; Elizabeth, 
 wife of Abraham S. Beekman ; and Louisa, 
 wife of H. V. D. \'an Liew. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Pitcher have had two children, namely: Le 
 Roy, wlio li\-ed but nine months; and Anna 
 Lee. Mrs. Pitcher, a woman of culture, is a 
 thorough musician, being a talented singer and 
 a fine pianist. While at Ringoes she was 
 leader of the church choir, the organist in the 
 Sunday-school, and one of its corps of teachers. 
 She is a very acti\-e member of the church and 
 of its \-arious societies, belonging to the Chris- 
 tian Endeavor, the Ladies' Missionary Society, 
 the Ladies' Aid Society, and the Woman's 
 Christian Temperance Union. .She is presi- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 (lent of the Woman's CLissical Union of Scho- 
 harie County. 
 
 The Dutcli Reformed Church of Middlc- 
 burg is, with possibly an exception in Al- 
 bany and Schenectady, the oldest society and 
 worshipping in the oldest building in this part 
 of the State. This house of worship was 
 built in i/cSf), and has since been kept in ex- 
 cellent repair. The funds for its erection were 
 collected by committees sent through the colo- 
 nies for the purpose, the struggling little so- 
 ciety here, organized about 1730, being too 
 poor to give much toward it. The meetings 
 were probabl)- held in |)ri\Mte houses or barns 
 until a small frame builtling was put up for its 
 accommodation in 1732. That building, ac- 
 cording to Roscoe, was dedicated in 1737. It 
 was burned with the village on October 17, 
 1780, and six years latei' replaced by the pres- 
 ent edifice, in which the first sermon was 
 preached November 18, 1787, the Rev. George 
 W. Schneider being the minister. From the 
 time of the first regularly ordained minister of 
 the church, Ilendrick Hager, who was settled 
 in 1713, the following have held pastorates: 
 I'"red Hager, 1720; John Jacob Ehle, 1730; 
 Reinhardt Krickson, 1732; Michael Weiss, 
 U5^< Johannes Schuyler, 1736-55; John 
 Mauiitius Goetschius, 1757-60; Abram Rosc- 
 knintz, 1760-65; Johannes Schuyler, 1766-79; 
 Rynicr Van Nest, 1780-85; George W. 
 Schneider, 1785-88; J. C. Hoeffei, 1788-97; 
 Rynier \'an Nest, 1797-1S04; David Devoe, 
 1S12-15; John T. Schcrmeihorn, 1S16-27; 
 John Garrctsnn, 1827-33; J- I^- Steele, 1834- 
 38; Joshua l'ii)\(l, 1840-42; L. Messereau, 
 
 1842-45; Jacob West, 1846-52; I. M. See, 
 1852-54; E. Vedder, 1855-63; W. V.. 
 I^ogardus; J. S. Scott, D. ])., 1865-70; 
 S. W. Roe, ]). U., 1871-76; J. D. Gardner, 
 1876-80; E. N. Sebring, 1880-S5; D. K. 
 Van Doren, 1885-90; and the Rev. Charles 
 W. Pitcher, 1891. 
 
 ;J^()1IN A, El'RGUSON, one of the best- 
 known farmers in Duanesburg, N.V., 
 was born in Princetown, in the same 
 county, Schenectad)', January 24, 1822, son of 
 Duncan and Hannah Ferguson. The parents 
 were natives of Princetown, and the paternal 
 grandparents, John and Janet Ferguson, were 
 natives of Scotland. John Ferguson emi- 
 grated |3rior to the Revolution, and he ser\-e(l 
 as a soldier in that struggle. He was an 
 early settler in Princetown, where he tilled the 
 soil industriously for the rest of his active 
 period, being one of the ]irogressi\c farmers 
 of his tla)-. He and his wife lived to a good 
 old age. 
 
 Duncan Ferguson, the father, was a lifelong 
 resident of Princetown, and for man\- years he 
 carried on general farming with prosperous 
 results. In politics he was at one time a 
 Whig, and later a Republican. His family 
 consisted of eight cliildren, two of wliom are 
 lix'ing, naniel}-: John A., the suliject of this 
 sketch ; and Duncan Ferguson, wlio resides at 
 the homestead in Princetown. The others 
 were: Thomas, Robert, Daniel, Jeanette, Ann, 
 and Mary. The father lived to be eighty-two 
 )ears old, and the mother died at about 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 iSi 
 
 seventy-eight years old. They were members 
 of the Presbyterian church. 
 
 John A. Ferguson was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools of Princetown. In 1S43, when 
 twenty-one years old, he bought his first real 
 estate, consisting of a farm of one hundred 
 and fifty-five acres in Duanesburg, where he 
 has since resided, and he is now the owner of 
 other valuable lands. For a few years he was 
 engaged in mercantile business at Esperance, 
 Schoharie County; but general farming has 
 been his chief occupation, and aside from 
 growing the usual field and garden products of 
 this locality, he raises cattle and sheep. 
 
 Jn 1844 Mr. Ferguson was joined in mar- 
 riage with Elizabeth Humphrey, who was born 
 in Charlestown, Montgomery County, in 1823, 
 daughter of William Humphrey. Two daugh- 
 ters, Almira and Delia A., were born of this 
 union, which lasted a little more than fifty 
 years. Mrs. Ferguson died February i, 1895. 
 
 Mr. Ferguson's farm contains substantial 
 buildings. He is still cultivating it, and 
 under his careful treatment it is made to yield 
 large crops. His easy circumstances are the 
 result of patient industry, and he possesses 
 other excellent qualities which command the 
 respect of all who know him. Politicalh', he 
 acts with the Republican party. In his relig- 
 ious belief he is a Presbyterian. 
 
 AVID ENDERS, a prominent and 
 well-to-do resident of Esperance 
 township, N.Y. , was born at Scho- 
 harie Junction, September 10, 1833, son "f 
 
 JB 
 
 Jacob P. and Eva (Kniskern) luiders. He is 
 of the fifth generation in descent from Bar- 
 drum Panders, who emigrated from Holland, 
 and, settling as a pioneer in this county, became 
 a large land-owner. A deed for twelve hundred 
 and seventy acres, now in the possession of Mr. 
 David Enders, was originally conveyed from 
 King George in 1729 to Augustus Van Cort- 
 land, who in turn transferred it to a person by 
 the name of Holland. The latter transferred 
 it to Mr. Dow, from whom it went to Bardrum 
 Enders and his descendants. John Enders, 
 son of Bardrum, reared a family of four chil- 
 dren, one being a son Peter, who served as a 
 soldier in the Revolutionary War. Peter len- 
 ders became the owner of all but one-seventh 
 of his grandfather Eardrum's property, and was 
 an extensive farmer. lie hatl a famil_\- of two 
 sons and si.x daughters, and among the latter 
 were: Maria, who married John Enders; 
 Christina, who married Joseph I. Borst ; 
 Nancy, who married Philip Deitz; and an- 
 other, who married Harmon Beecher. The 
 sons were: Peter I., and Jacob P., the father 
 of David. 
 
 Jacob P. Enders followed general farming 
 throughout the active ]5eriod of his life, and 
 like his predecessors was noted for his energ)- 
 and ability. He was a member of the Dutch 
 Reformed church, was kind-hearted and cliar- 
 itable, and his high character gave him consid- 
 erable influence with his fellow-townsmen. In 
 jiolitics he was a Democrat. He was the 
 father of nine children; namely, Peter, John, 
 David, the subject of this sketch, Maria, 
 Elizabeth, Christina, Eva, Katharine, and Ma- 
 
l82 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 til(l:i. Of tlie (laughters four married. Peter 
 resides in Esperance; John, who lived on the 
 old homestead, was aceidentally killed by a 
 runawa\' Jiorse. 
 
 l)a\iil luiders received his education in the 
 district schools, at the Richmondville Acad- 
 emy, which was destroyed by fire some nine 
 weeks after its opening, and at the Schoharie 
 Acadeni)-, where his studies were comjjleted 
 under Professor l^riggs. He resided at home 
 until after his marriage, when he purchased a 
 piece of pro])erty known as Slingerland farm, 
 upon which he remaineil nine years, and then 
 removed to the farm where he now resides. 
 His homestead is considered one of the hand- 
 somest in Sloansville. He takes a keen inter- 
 est in the ach'ancement of the town, and as one 
 of its wealthiest and most public-spirited resi- 
 ilents his aid and influence are visible in all 
 measures instigated therefor. He served as 
 Railroad Commissioner for fifteen consecutive 
 years, or until the board was abolished. He 
 was elected to the Assembl\- in 1896, on the 
 Democratic ticket, and serwtl with abilit\' 
 upon the Committees on Interior Affairs, Vil- 
 lages, and Agriculture. His interest in pub- 
 lic affairs has in various ways proved beneficial 
 to the communit}', and his well-known persis- 
 tency is a sufficient guarantee that whatever he 
 undertakes will be successfull}' accomjilished. 
 This was recently demonstrated by the comple- 
 tion of a fine new bridge over the Schoharie 
 River at Sloansville, an improvement which 
 was strenuous])' opposed by many, but through 
 his instrumentality was finalh' built. 
 
 Mr. I'-nders married for his first wife Mary 
 
 E. Lark in, daughter of Daniel I.arkin. Two 
 children were the fruit of this marriage, 
 namely; Jacob, who died at the age of four 
 years; and Nancy. For his second wife he 
 married Emma Williams, daughter of Olaff 
 H. Williams. 
 
 Mr. Enders is a Master Mason, and belongs 
 to Schoharie Lodge, No. 492. In his relig- 
 ious belief he favors the Baptists, but contrib- 
 utes toward the support of other churches. 
 Mrs. Enders is a Lutheran. 
 
 iClLME] 
 
 :.MER E. KREIGER, proprietor of a 
 
 Jl well-known restaurant in Prattsville, 
 
 and a citizen prominently idcntifietl with the 
 public affairs of this town, was born in Ash- 
 land, X. v., March 7, 1861, son of lulward and 
 Mahala (Benjamin) Kreiger. 
 
 His father, who is a native of Germany, was 
 engaged in a revolutionary movement there 
 which resulted in his being obliged in 1S47 to 
 seek refuge in the United States. Locating 
 in Prattsville, he was in the employ of Smitli 
 & Ofler for five years, at the end of which time 
 he moved to Ashland, where for the succeeding 
 nine years he was engaged in farming. Next 
 corning to HuntersHeld, he continued to carry 
 on general fanning until uS'SS, when he re- 
 tired from active labor. He is now sevent)'- 
 five years old, and is residing in the village of 
 Prattsville. Mis first wife, Mahala, who was 
 a daughter of Josejih Benjamin, of Prattsville, 
 became the mother of four children, all of 
 whom grew to maturity. One son was acci- 
 dentally killed while gunning in 1893, at the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 '83 
 
 age of thirty-four years. The living are: 
 Frank, who is residing on the farm in Hun- 
 tersfield; Kate, who married Merritt Alberti ; 
 aiid Elmer E., the special subject of this 
 sketch. Mrs. Mahala Kreiger died in 1863, 
 aged thirty-six years. Edward Kreiger mar- 
 ried for his second wife Mary Ham, by whom 
 he has one child, a son, who is residing in this 
 town. 
 
 Elmer E. Kreiger was educated in the ]nib- 
 lic schools. He remained at home until 
 twenty-two years old, when he became an as- 
 sistant on the Stanley Hall farm, and at the 
 end of one year was given the entire charge of 
 that property, which contains five hundred 
 acres. During his fourteen years as manager 
 of this establishment he met with good 
 financial results. After leaving Stanley Hall 
 he bought a farm of two hundred acres in the 
 town of Gilboa, which he sold to good ad\-an- 
 tage a year later, and, coming to Prattsville in 
 1894, he engaged in the restaurant business. 
 He was also quite an extensive speculator in 
 cattle prior to relinquishing agricultural pur- 
 suits, and in that business he became widely 
 known throughout this section of the State. 
 As a prominent Democrat he takes a lively in- 
 terest in political affairs, and is very popular 
 with his fellow-townsmen. He was elected to 
 the Board of Supervisors for the years 1893, 
 1S94, 1895, 1896, and 1S97 by a large major- 
 ity, and during those years he frequently acted 
 as temporary chairman of that body. 
 
 Mr. Kreiger is unmarried. He was made a 
 Mason at the age of twenty-two, and is now 
 Junior Warden and a trustee of the Blue 
 
 Lodge in this town. He is a director, and 
 superintendent of grounds, of the Prattsville 
 Agricultural and Horticultural Association, 
 and is always ready to assist in forwarding 
 public improvements. While not a church 
 member, he contributes toward the support of 
 the various denominations, and is in close 
 sympathy with the different moral and relig- 
 ious societies of the village. 
 
 OLONEL ALONZO FERGUSON, 
 1^ of Coblcskill, N.Y. , secretary of the 
 Schoharie and Otsego Mutual Fire 
 Insurance Company, and a veteran of the Civil 
 War, was born in the town of Nassau, Rensse- 
 laer County, this State, on March 19, 1820, 
 son of German and Pllizabeth (.SI iter) Fergu- 
 son. His parents were both natives of Nas- 
 sau. One of his great-grandfathers, a German 
 of the name of Sornberger, was a pioneer set- 
 tler of Dutchess County. His paternal grand- 
 father was Jeremiah Ferguson, and his mater- 
 nal grandfather, John SI iter, both of Nassau, 
 and the latter a Revolutionary soldier and 
 pensioner. 
 
 In 1826, about three years after the death 
 of his wife Elizabeth, which occurred when 
 their son Alonzo was only three and a half 
 years old, he came to Coblcskill. Here he 
 spent the rest of his life, and died at the age 
 of seventy-six. In religion he was a Meth- 
 odist. 
 
 Colonel Ferguson was only six years old 
 when his father came to Cobleskill. Here, up 
 to his fifteenth year, he received what little 
 
iS4 
 
 lUOCJKArillCAI, 
 
 KVIKW 
 
 education the common schools of that day 
 afforded in winter, and in summer lie was em- 
 ployed on farm work. At the age of seventeen 
 he was ajiprcnticed to learn wagon-making, and 
 for the succeeding nine years he worked at that 
 trade. ;\t twenty-si.\ he entered a village 
 store at Carlisle as clerk, and there remained 
 for a year. In the spring of 1847 he became 
 a partner of the late Charles Courter at Coble- 
 skill, continuing the connection until 1851, 
 when he engaged in the hardware business at 
 Cobleskill on his own account. This he car- 
 ried on for foui' years, and at the end of that 
 time sold out to the late Charles H. Shaver. 
 In 1850 and 1851 he was Clerk of the town of 
 Cobleskill. In 1855 he removed to the city 
 of Buffalo, and in 1862 entered the government 
 service in the commissary department of the 
 army. 
 
 He was ordered to duty in Kentucky, and 
 followed the army to Pittsburg Landing. 
 Having contracted a fever, he was obliged to 
 reluin noilh about the first of June, but shortl}' 
 after was commissioned Adjutant by Governor 
 Morgan to organize the cjuota of the Twentieth 
 Senatorial District of New York under the call 
 of President Lincoln for three hundred thou- 
 sand \-olunteers, and he immediately reported 
 to Colonel Richard Franchot at Mohawk, 
 Herkimer County, where camp was estab- 
 lished. This was earl)- in July, 1862, and 
 on the twenty thiid of the following month the 
 One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment 
 went to the trout with one thousand and ten 
 men. A second regiment being needed to 
 com[iletc the quota, at the earnest request ol 
 
 the war committee, he was again assigned by 
 the governor to the task, and on October 15, 
 1862, the One Hundred and Fifty-second Reg- 
 iment was mustered into service, thus complet- 
 ing the enlistment of more than two thousand 
 men within the space of three months. Gov- 
 ernor Morgan commissioned him Lieutenant 
 Colonel of the One Hundred anil Fifty-second 
 Regiment, and on October 21 he left with his 
 command for the front. In January of the fol- 
 lowing year he was i>idnioted to the rank of 
 Colonel. He was with his regiment at the 
 siege of Suffolk, \'a., untler General Peck, in 
 April and May, iSfi^, and from there was or- 
 dered to the Peninsula, thence to Wa.shington, 
 and thence, in Jul)-, on to New York to sup- 
 press the draft j-iots. His was the fii-st volun- 
 teer regiment to arrive in that city. Order 
 being restored, he was directed by General 
 Canby, who was in command at New York, to 
 proceed to Schenectady and be present there 
 during the enforcement of the draft. He was 
 then ordered back to New York, where his 
 con-m-iaiid remained on tletachcd diU)' until Oc- 
 tobt-r, when he was ordered to join the second 
 corps of the Army of the Potomac. About the 
 first of December the Colonel was obliged to 
 resign on account of impaired health, not being 
 willing to renniiu in the service unless he 
 could i)erfoini active duty. 
 
 Returning North he engaged in business in 
 the city of New York, and subseqently in the 
 State of Florida. In 1876 he served as a 
 member of the .State Senate of Florida, being- 
 sent fi-oni tlie first disti-icl of that State. He 
 was at the capital when the arguments on the 
 
A.XDKI'W J. XAXULKl'UKL. 
 
BIOGRArHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1S7 
 
 Tilden and Hayes returns were made, knew the 
 officials who canvassed the returns, and learned 
 from the lips of the secretary of State all that 
 related to the question. Returning in 1S79 to 
 his old home, he here engaged in the hardware 
 business, but later sold out and started an in- 
 surance business. In this line he has been 
 very successful, having been agent for most of 
 the standard companies. In October, 1S95, 
 he organized the fire insurance company of 
 which he is now secretary. During his recent 
 residence here he has been chairman of the 
 Republican county committee for four years, 
 and for two years he was a member of the state 
 committee. 
 
 Colonel Ferguson was married in March, 
 1847, to Mary Courter, of this town. She was 
 burn in Schoharie, and died in 1859, at the 
 age of thirty-two, leaving two children: 
 Charles, who is now a ti'avelling agent in the 
 West ; and Sarah, who died at the age of 
 thirty-three. The latter was the wife of 
 Frank M. Goodrich, and the mother of two 
 children, one of whom is living. The Colonel 
 was married in April, 1S65, to Libbie M. 
 Pegg, a native of Springfield, Otsego County, 
 and daughter of George A. Pegg, a well-known 
 hotel-keeper of that town. Py this marriage 
 there is one .son, Howard P., who is now in 
 business with his father. He was for si.v 
 years in New York as a hotel clerk. 
 
 The Colonel is a member of Cobleskill 
 Lodge, No. 394, F. & A. M., having joined 
 in 1865. He takes an active interest in town 
 affairs. Colonel and Mrs. I'erguson are mem- 
 bers of the Lutheran church, of which he has | 
 
 been an Elder for a number of years, being 
 also treasurer of the society. 
 
 APTAIN ANDREW J. VANDER^ 
 r POEL, dealer in ice, a highly re- 
 spected citizen of New Baltimore, 
 N. Y. , was born in this town on May 7, 1838, 
 his parents being Andrew and Jane {Van 
 Slyke) Vanderpoel. His grandfather, also 
 named Andrew, was a native of Columbia 
 County. He spent his life there engaged in 
 farming, and died there at the age of fifty- 
 eight. His wife, whose maiden name was 
 Elizabeth Smith, was born in Connecticut. 
 None of their seven children are living. Her 
 death occurred at the age of seventy-eight. 
 She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and had a brother who was an Elder in 
 that church. 
 
 Andrew Vanderpoel, the second, father of 
 the subject of this sketch, came to New Balti- 
 more when a young man, purchased a farm 
 here, and subsequently engaged in farming 
 until about the age of si.vty years when he 
 retired and moved to New Baltimore vil- 
 lage, and at the age of seventy-nine he died. 
 He was a Deacon in the Dutch Reformed 
 church and for many years an Elder. In pol- 
 itics he was first a Whig and later a Republi- 
 can. He was a man of sound judgment, and 
 his advice and counsel were sought by many. 
 His wife, Jane, was born in this place; and 
 was a daughter of Tunis Van Slyke, a farmer 
 and large land-owner. She was one of a fam- 
 ily of eight children. Of the si.v born to her, 
 
1 88 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 four are living, namely: Tunis, who resides in 
 New Baltimore; Andrew J. ; Peter, who is 
 in Massachusetts ; and Mrs. Alida Mead of 
 this town. The mother died at the age of 
 ninety years. 
 
 Captain Vanderpoel in his hr)yhood attended 
 the district school, and at tlie age of twenty 
 studied for a time in Claverick Institute. He 
 began his working life on his father's farm, 
 and subsequently went into liusiness, forming 
 a partnership with a Mr. Smith under the firm 
 name of Smith & \'anderpocl, and for six years 
 carrx'ing on a general merchandise store. At 
 the end of that time he disposed of his inter- 
 est iri tiie business to Mr. Holmes. A little 
 later he started a coal yard in New l?altimore, 
 also entered the ice business, also ran boats to 
 New "\'()rk. lie then bought back his interest 
 in the store from Mr. Holmes, retaining it until 
 1880, when he sold it to Mr. Nelson. During 
 the ne.xt six years he was cajitain of the " City 
 of Hudson," the day boat which ran fiom 
 Catskill to Albany. While occupying this 
 position lie removed his family to Catskill, 
 where he continued to reside until 1S87, when 
 he returned to tiiis town. After he left off 
 running the "City of Hudson," he was en- 
 gaged in the transpniiation of freight to New 
 York, but ill 1897 his dock buildings burned, 
 and he discontinued the freight trade. Since 
 tlien he has carried on an ice business, housina; 
 twenty-six thousand tons of ice a year and dis- 
 bursing it in large quantities in New York at 
 wholesale. In 1S90 the Captain bouglit his 
 present beautiful estate, which is a fine farm 
 devoted princiiiall)' to fiuit orchards. ll is 
 
 known as the Dr. Cornell homesteatl, and over- 
 looks the gliding Hudson. 
 
 Captain Vander|)oel has been twice married, 
 the first time, in i86g, to Elizabeth Randall, 
 and the second time in 1882 to I'.lla Jennings. 
 The first Mrs. X'anderpoel was a Nova Scotian 
 by birth. She died at the age nf thirty-nine, 
 having been the mother of five chilihen, namely : 
 Weston K. and Frank, who are in California; 
 Martha and Margaret who are in New Jersey, 
 and Andrew, also in California. The second 
 Mrs. \'anderpoel was born near Duriiam. Her 
 father, Daniel D. Jennings, was a well-known 
 hotel-keeper in liis native town of Cairo. He 
 died when liis daughter Ella w-as a young girl. 
 His second wife, Eleanor Souser, a descendant 
 of the noted .Salisbury famil\- which came from 
 England, was born in Jefferson in the town of 
 Catskill. She bore him four children, of 
 whom there are living: Peter, of New York; 
 Irving, a Catskill lawyer and bank president; 
 and Mrs. \'anderpoel. Ca])taiii and Mrs. 
 Vanderpoel ha\e one chikl, I'etei' Ji^'iiiiings, 
 now eleven years of age. They lost two little 
 sons — John IJenham, at two years of age; and 
 Worthington, who died an infant. 
 
 Tile Captain is a Republican; l)ut he refuses 
 to accept nomination for public office, though 
 frequently asked to do so. He is a Mason, 
 being formerl)- associated witii Ark Lodge of 
 Coxsackie and at present a member of Social 
 F'ricndship Lodge of New Baltimore. Of the 
 latter he is a charter member, one of three, 
 and since its organization has been treasurer of 
 the lodge. Mrs. \'anderpoel is a member of 
 tiie Dutch Relormed Church of Catskill. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 189 
 
 W: 
 
 [LLIAM HENRY DECKER, Su- 
 pervisor of the town of Gilboa, 
 Schoharie County, N.Y. , and by occupation a 
 dairyman and fruit-grower, was born in Gilboa 
 on November 12, 1S46. His parents were 
 Jacob and Betsy Ann (Shew) Decker, and his 
 paternal grandfather was Tunis Decker, whose 
 immigrant progenitor was one of a colony of 
 Dutch emigrants who settled in Deckertown, 
 N.J., and Columbia County, New York. 
 
 Tunis Decker was born in 1765 in Columbia 
 County, and lived there for some time. He 
 came eventually to Gilboa, and purchased a 
 tract of three hundred acres, part of which es- 
 tate is where his grandson William now re- 
 sides. Although ostensibly a farmer, he was 
 a man of varied talents, and could turn his 
 hand to almost any kind of work. He came 
 here in 1833, and died some twenty years 
 later, in his eighty-ninth year. His remains 
 were the first to be carried into the Shew Hol- 
 low Methodist church for funeral services. 
 No other place seemed so fitting as the church 
 for which he had worked and sacrificed, and to 
 whose interests he was so thoroughly devoted. 
 His wife, whom he had married shortly after 
 the Re\'olution, survived him some years, dy- 
 ing at the age of eighty-eight. Of their fam- 
 ily of twelve children three died in infancy. 
 The nine that continued life's journey were : 
 Cornelia, Jacob and Sophia (twins,) Polly, 
 Catherine, Susan, Eliza, Cornelius, and 
 George. Eliza Decker died on Long Island of 
 yellow fever. Tall stature was a family char- 
 acteristic. The three sons became farmers, 
 and each upon settling in life for himself was 
 
 given a hundred acres of land from the paternal 
 estate. Cornelius died in New London, Wis. 
 He had three sons, only one of whom is living. 
 This one and William Henry Decker are the 
 only living male descendants of Tunis Decker 
 bearing his name. George had two sons, but 
 both are deceased. 
 
 Jacob Decker, who was born June 30, 181 1, 
 at Conesville, Schoharie County, N. Y. , and 
 died in Gilboa, N. Y. , on Christmas Day, 
 1S79, was a carpenter, and followed his trade 
 for twenty-two years, being considered one of 
 the most skilled workmen in these parts. He 
 lived with his parents until his marriage, and 
 then settled on the lot his father gave him, 
 living first in the log house on the premises 
 which became the birthplace of the subject of 
 this sketch and most of his brothers and sis- 
 ters. Later Jacob Decker built a large house. 
 He was a Republican from the formation of 
 the party, and a leader in all local affairs. 
 He was deeply interested in the progress of the 
 church, and was one of those who helped build 
 the Methodist church edifice at Shew Hollow. 
 He was class leader for fourteen years. In- 
 deed, this family has been and still is noted 
 for its liberal support of all religious organ- 
 izations both in a moral and a financial way. 
 Jacob Decker's w'ife, Betsy Ann, was a grand- 
 daughter, on her mother's side, of Captain 
 Hagar, who won renown during the days of the 
 Revolution by his valiant service in behalf of 
 the colonists. His brother Joseph was shot 
 during the war, and his father was carried a 
 prisoner to Canada, and detained there until 
 the end of the struggle. One of three pewter 
 
igo 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 plates, the histor)' nf which is connected with 
 the Revolution, is still preserved in Mr. 
 Decker's family. They were thrown into a well 
 by the wife of Captain Hagar just before the 
 house was burned by Brant's Indians and Tor- 
 ies, and they were taken from the well at the 
 close of the war. Mrs. l^ets)' Ann Decker 
 died at eighty years of age, on March 12, 
 1894. She was the mother of the following- 
 named children: Marietta; S. Amelia; Martha 
 A.; Francelia; Rozella; Almira, who died at 
 the age of si.\ years; Helen, who died young; 
 William II. ; and two elder sons, who died 
 young. Marietta married David Simonson, 
 and resides in Hobart, N. Y. Amelia married 
 Dr. R. Hubbell, of Jeffenson, N.Y., and died 
 in 1889. I'^rancelia is the wife of William R. 
 Ladd, of Bangor, Me. Rozella is the second 
 wife of Dr. R. Hubbell, of Jefferson, N. Y. 
 
 William llciir)' Decker is a man of fine jihy- 
 sique, and in his prime was known as the 
 strongest and most active man in this section. 
 He has been known to lift twelve hundred 
 pounds dead weight. He early engaged in 
 blacksmith ing, for which he seemed so well 
 adapted by nature, and in wood working and 
 repairing. His motto was, "Do it right and 
 you won't have to do it over again"; and, as 
 this sentiment found constant expression in all 
 work thai he did, he had no difficulty in secur- 
 ing the best trade in his line in this vicinity. 
 But after twenty )'ears of mechanical labor he 
 was attacked by rheumatism, and it became 
 necessary for him to make a change in this 
 business. He therefore confined himself to 
 farming on his two hundred and thirty-eight 
 
 acres, devoting his attention chiefly to dairying 
 and fruit-growing. His dairy of si.xty milch 
 cows is one of the largest in town, and is com- 
 posed of e.xcellent stock. He has about six 
 hundred apple-trees. He is one of the fi\e 
 directors in the creamery company at South 
 Gilboa, and previous to its incorporation was 
 one of the committee that built the creamery 
 and carried on the business. This creamery, 
 which is one of the most expensive in this 
 vicinity, cost, with buildings and ecpiipment, 
 seven thousand dollars. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Decker is a strong Repub- 
 lican. He has attended man\' conventions, 
 and every year since he became a voter has 
 taken an active part in election and nomina- 
 tion of officials. W'ith the exception of one 
 year, when he was sick, he has always been 
 present at town elections. He has held the 
 offices of Collector, Road Commissioner, Poor- 
 master, Assessor, Constable, and, indeed, 
 every office in the town except those of Town 
 Clerk and Justice of the Peace. If he lives 
 till the end of his present term he will have 
 been Supervisor of his town five \ears. Every- 
 nomination has come to him unsolicited. 
 While he was serving as Road Conunissioner 
 thirty bridges were repaired in one season, but 
 expenses were kept at a minimum. In 1896 
 he was elected Supervisor for tw^o years; in 
 189S he was re-elected, foi- one year, as the 
 unanimous choice of i)oth irarties; and in the 
 early part of the present year, 1899, he was re- 
 elected for two years. His opponent at his 
 first election was Stephen Wildsey, who had 
 been on the board twice before. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 191 
 
 -Mr. Decker has been twice married, his 
 wives being sisters, daughters of Hiram 
 Brown, of Dutch descent. Mr. Ijmwn is liv- 
 ing, but his wife died in April, 1S96. They 
 were the parents of two sons and three daugh- 
 ters, namely: Eliza; Reuben; Jacob, who re- 
 sides in Gilboa; Addie; and Angle. Addle 
 l^rown, Co whom Mr. Decker was married first, 
 died in her thirty-fourth year, on November 
 21, 1889. She was the mother of five chil- 
 dren, and is survived by three; namely, Lizzie 
 E., Zanah, and Arthur B. Willie J. died at 
 two years of age, on November 2, 1880; and 
 Inza died at four years of age, on October 22, 
 1884. Mr. Decker's present wife was before 
 marriage Angle Brown. Mr. Decker is a 
 member of the Shew Hollow Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church. He has always been a temper- 
 ate man in every way, using neither tobacco 
 nor into.xicants of any kind. His genial tem- 
 per and hearty good humor make him a gen- 
 eral favorite, and his jovial laugh is a pleasant 
 sound to hear. 
 
 ILLIAM D. SHAEER, M.D., a 
 rising young physician of Oak Hill, 
 town of Durham, N.Y. , was born in Coble- 
 skill, Schoharie County, March 16, 1870, son 
 of Daniel G. and Mary J. (Van Volkenberg) 
 Shafer. His paternal grandfather, Daniel 
 Shafer, was a lifelong resident of C(jbleskill, 
 where he cultivated a farm during his active 
 period, and died at the age of eighty years. 
 
 Daniel G. Shafer, Dr. Shafer's father, ac- 
 quired a good education in the common schools 
 
 and at Charlotte Academy. Eor many years 
 he was associated with his brother-in-law. He 
 finally purchased a jMece of agricultural prop- 
 erty of one hundred and thirty acres, situated 
 near Mineral Springs, upon which he spent his 
 last years, and where his widow, Mrs. Mary J. 
 Shafer, still resides. In politics he was a 
 Democrat. Mrs. Shafer's father, Hiram Van 
 Volkenberg, was a farmer of Schoharie County. 
 She is the mother of two children: William 
 D., the subject of this sketch; and Mary, wife 
 of Jesse Shafer of Mineral Springs. 
 
 After attending the common schools and the 
 high school of Cobleskill, William D. Shafer 
 began the study of medicine with Dr. Allen of 
 that town, and latei attended the New York 
 Eclectic College, from which he was graduated 
 in 1892. He began the practice of his profes- 
 sion in New York City, and went from there 
 to Livingstonville. Since July, 1896, he has 
 been the only physician at Oak Hill, and his 
 practice, which has already assumed large 
 proportions, extends into Schoharie and Al- 
 bany Counties, necessitating long tedious rides 
 in all kinds of weather. 
 
 In 1892 Dr. Shafer was united in marriage 
 with Jessie Dillenbeck, daughter of Jonas Dil- 
 lenbeck, a druggist of Cobleskill. They have 
 one son, Rudolph. 
 
 Politically, Dr. Shafer acts with the Demo- 
 cratic party. He served as Coroner in .Scho- 
 harie County, resigning that office when he re- 
 moved from Livingstonville. He is treasurer 
 of the Lyman Tremaine Lodge, No. 265, 
 I. O. O. E., Oak Hill, and a member of tlrc 
 Middleburg Encampment. He is medical ex- 
 
192 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 amiiiLT tor the New \'i)rk Life and Prudential 
 Insurance Companies; also for the Masonic 
 Life Association of Western New York, and 
 formerly belonged to the New York Eclectic 
 Society. He attends the Episcopal church, of 
 which Mrs. Siiafer is a member. 
 
 il<:V. IIL'C.11 ()'NP:IL, pastor of St. 
 Mary's Churcli, Hunter, N.Y., and of 
 St. P'rancis de Sales Chnrch, Plater- 
 kill, was born in Dim<4arvan, Count)- Water- 
 ford, Ireland, May 18, 1838, son of Patrick 
 and P:ilen (McSweeney) O'Neil. 
 
 The first of the family to settle in Waterford 
 was his great-grandfather, Hugh O'Neil, who 
 went there from Shaw's Castle, County Ty- 
 rone, lid ward O'Neil, his grandfather, was 
 born in Kilkenny, and was a farmer. Patrick 
 O'Neil, his father, who was born in Water- 
 ford and was a farmer in early life, later 
 engaged in the bakery business in Dungar- 
 van. He was also a spirits merchant, and 
 before the advent of railroads he ran a line 
 of carriages known as post coaches. He was 
 a great admirer of Daniel O'Connell, and 
 while taking an active part in electing a mem- 
 ber of parliament he contracted an illness 
 which caused his death at the age of fift)-two 
 years. 
 
 Patrick O'Neil was a highly respected citi- 
 zen and an able supporter of the church. His 
 wife, Ellen, was born in Tipperary in 1796, 
 daughter of Tiiomas IMcSweeney. During the 
 Rebellion of 1798 her parents took refuge in 
 a town in the county of Waterford. She was 
 
 the mother of eight children, of wliom the sub- 
 ject of this sketch and his sister Margaret are 
 the only survivors. Margaret, now Mrs. 
 O'Callahan, resides with her brother in Hun- 
 ter She has a daughter who is the Assistant 
 Reverend Mother in the convent at West Troy. 
 One of Father O' Neil's brothers, Edward, was 
 educated in St. Jojm's College, Waterford, 
 from which he was graduated in 1852. He 
 was ordained co the priesthood, and sent to 
 Manchester, England, where he became a 
 Canon, and served in that capacity until his 
 deatli, which occurred in 1 S92, at the age of 
 sixty-seven. 
 
 Hugh O'Neil began his education in a 
 classical school, i:)repared for college under 
 private tutor.s, and in 1858 went to Allhallows 
 College, where he was graduated in i860. 
 His theological stutlies were [jursued at Water- 
 ford anil at St. Mary's College, Oscott, Eng- 
 land, where he was a fellow-student with the 
 late King Alphonso of Spain and witli the 
 father of the late General Garcia, the Culjan 
 leader. He was ordained a priest of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, P'ebruary g, 1867, 
 and iiis first appuinlment was to St. lianiabas 
 Catheilral, Nottingham, ICngland, where he re- 
 mained nine months. His ne.xt charge was at 
 the village of Ilkeston, now a city, where his 
 duties required him to cover a circuit of forty- 
 five miles; anil during his labors there, whicji 
 extended through a period of eleven years, he 
 erected a church and a school building and de- 
 velo]ied the parish into a highly prosperous 
 condition. The routine work which he accom- 
 plished unaided is now performed by eight 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 193 
 
 priests. At his own request he wns trans- 
 ferred to the village of Hathersage, Peak of 
 Derbyshire, famous as the home of Robin Hood, 
 and with the assistance of the Duke of Norfolk 
 he repaired and opened an ancient church built 
 previous to the Reformation. 
 
 At the expiration of four and one-half years 
 he came to the United States on a leave of ab- 
 sence, arriving in New York in 1882, and, 
 subsequently deciding to remain this country, 
 he severed his connection with his English 
 parish and accepted an assignment to a mission 
 church in Philadelphia. At the request of the 
 bishop of Indianapolis he went to .St. Patrick's 
 Church in that city. After that he was again 
 stationed in Philadelphia for a short time, and 
 then became attached to the diocese of Albany, 
 and was assigned to St. Mary's Church in 
 Troy. In 1887 he came to Hunter as pastor 
 of St. Mary's Church. 
 
 The arduous duties of a widel}' distributed 
 district, which included villages and settle- 
 ments within a radius of fifty miles, were zeal- 
 ously and energetically performed by him for 
 five years, or until his circuit was divided, 
 since which time the concentration of his 
 labors has enabled him to accomplish results 
 far more visible in their effects. Beside effect- 
 ing the enlargement and improvement of St. 
 Mary's Church, he erected St. Francis de 
 Sales Church in Platerkill in 1891. At both 
 of these churches he officiates the year round, 
 celebrating two masses each Sunday during the 
 summer season, besides holding week-day ser- 
 vices whenever occasion demands. He for- 
 merly conducted service regularly at the hotel 
 
 Kaaterskill during the season, but these he 
 was obliged to relinquish on account of his in- 
 creasing labors elsewhere. He has earnestly 
 endeavored to promote the spiritual welfare of 
 his widely-scattered flock, and the zeal he dis- 
 plays in conducting the affairs of his pastorate 
 has gained for him the good will of the entire 
 community. He organized the Sacred Heart 
 and Rosary societies, and he takes a lively in- 
 terest in the work of the town improvement so- 
 ciety, of which he is a member. At the ear- 
 nest request of the people of Lexington he 
 aided in securing the erection of a church in 
 that village; and he has also repaired St. 
 Henry's Church, located between Ashlantl and 
 Prattsville. 
 
 Father O'Neil began to interest himself 
 in political affairs shortly after his arrival in 
 this country, and in 1884 he headed a commit- 
 tee who, at the P^ifth Avenue Hotel, New 
 York City, presented the late Hon. James G. 
 l^laine with a gold-headed cane. He is a nat- 
 uralized citizen of the United States, and sup- 
 ports the Democratic party. 
 
 ^OHN G. EMPIE, who has been actively 
 identified with the agricultural interests 
 of the town of Seward, Schoharie 
 County, for more than thirty years, is the 
 owner of a well-improved farm lying about one 
 mile from the village of Hyndsville. He was 
 born in Sharon, N.Y. , January 5, 1836, a son 
 of Peter Empie, Jr. He is of French and 
 German ancestry, and the descendant of one of 
 the earliest settlers of Schoharie County — his 
 
194 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 great-grandfather, John lunpie, having rc- 
 iiiDvcd in carl)' manhood tVoni Stone Arabia, 
 Montgomery County, to the town of Sliaron. 
 A hard-working pioneer, Jcjhn Empie cleared 
 a farm from the wilderness, and there passed 
 the remainder of his life. 
 
 I'eter ICnipie, Sr. , graiulfalher of John G., 
 sjient his sevent\'-seven years of life on the old 
 homestead in Sharon, Schoharie Coiuit\-, work- 
 ing as a farmer through boyhood, early man- 
 hood, and old age. He cleared off wood, cul- 
 tivated the soil, and in course of time erected 
 substantial frame buildings in place of the 
 original log house and barn. His wife, Katie 
 Lehman, was born in Sharon. She was a 
 daughter of John Lehman, whose father was 
 one of the original settlers of that place. Of 
 their eight children, none survive. 
 
 I'eter Knipie, Jr., son of I'eter, Sr. , was 
 born and brought up on llie old farm in 
 Sharon, and received his education in the pio- 
 neer schools of his day and generation. Vo\- 
 lovving in the footste[5S of his ancestors, he 
 chose farming as his life occupation, and on 
 reaching manhood pinchascd land near the 
 parental estate, and was there successfully en- 
 gaged in his independent calling until his de- 
 cease, at the venerable age of eighty-three 
 years. He was a Democrat in jiolitics, greatly 
 interested in public affairs, and served his fel- 
 low-townsmen as Assessor for a number of 
 years. Both lu' and his wife were members of 
 the Reformed church. He married Maria 
 Kmpie, who was born in .Sharon, a daughter of 
 a later John Empie than the iiioneer. Peter 
 and Maria Empie had seven children; namely, 
 
 Norman D., Jane E., John G. , Peter H., 
 Anna S., Harvey L. , and Hewitt C. 
 
 John G. Empie acipiired a practical educa- 
 tion in the common schools of Sharon and at 
 the Carlisle Seminary. He subsequently 
 taught school several terms, both in Sharon 
 and Seward, but in 1867 gave up his position 
 at the teacher's desk to take possession of his 
 present fine estate of one hundred acres, which 
 was formerly known as the Ealk farm. P'rom 
 year to year he has made marked improvements 
 on the place, having erected within the last 
 cpiarter of a century all the buildings that are 
 now on it and cleared off much of the wood. 
 He has a large part of the land under cultiva- 
 tion. He carries on general farming in all its 
 branches, and in past times he raised vast 
 cpiantities of hops, which pro\ed a valuable 
 crop. 
 
 In politics Mr. lunpie affiliates with the 
 Democratic party. He has served acceptably 
 in various local offices, including those of Su- 
 pervisor, Commissioner of Highways, and 
 trustee of his school district. He has also 
 been secretary and trustee of the People's 
 Cemetery Association of .Sharon ever since its 
 organization in i S67. 
 
 On June 30, 1858, Mr. pjiipie married Miss 
 Nancy C. Borst, who was also born in Sharon, 
 as was her father, Peter G. Borst, a lifelong 
 farmer of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Empie 
 have two children— the Rev. Alfied R. and 
 Edward J. The Rev. Alfred R. I{mpie was 
 graduated from Hartwick .Seminary, and is now 
 preaching in Maryhuul, Otsego County, N. Y. 
 He married Miss Anna Skinner, and they have 
 
ALUNZO W'AKKAIAN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 197 
 
 one child, Lillian. Edward J. Knipic married 
 Miss Anna Nellis, and is the father of two 
 children — Everett and Nancy Ella. Mr. and 
 Mrs. John G. iMiipie are members f)f the Lu- 
 theran church, in which he has been Deacon, 
 Elder, and secretary. 
 
 —♦-♦••-•— 
 
 tLONZO WAKEMAN, for many years 
 one of the leading farmers of Lawyers- 
 <■ — ' ville, Schoharie County, was born 
 October 2^,, 1810, in this town, and here spent 
 his entire life of nearly seventy-eight years, 
 his death occurring on August 31, 1888. He 
 was of patriotic Revolutionary stock, his j3a- 
 ternal grandfather, Gershom Wakeman, a na- 
 tive of Fairfield, Conn., having served as an 
 officer in the war for American independence. 
 
 Gershom Wakeman was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion. He was among the very first to enlist in 
 the Colonial forces, and was killed in one of 
 the early battles of the war. His wife, Eliza- 
 beth Downs, was born in l''airfield County, 
 Connecticut, daughter of David Downs and the 
 descendant of one of the earliest settled families 
 of that county. She died not very long after 
 her husband's death, leaving seven children; 
 namely, Abigail, Abel, Gershom, Dolly, 
 Amelia, Isaac, and Seth B. , the latter of 
 whom was the father of Alonzo Wakeman. 
 
 Seth B. Wakeman was brought up on a 
 farm. In early manhood he learned the car- 
 penter's trade, which he subsequently followed 
 many years in Lawyersville, where he was one 
 of the first settlers. He erected the house now 
 occupied by his son Alonzo's widow, the resi- 
 
 dence of Stanton Courter, of Cobleskill, and 
 several business houses of this locality. He 
 bought a farm of two hundred acres near the 
 village and also other land in town; and f(jr 
 some years prior to his death, at the age of 
 eighty -two years, was successfully engaged in 
 general farming. He likewise carried on an 
 extensive business as a manufacturer of lum- 
 ber, being the owner of a saw-mill. His first 
 wife, Clara Nichols, a native of Fairfield 
 County, Connecticut, died in early womanhood, 
 leaving him five children, namely: Horace; 
 Alonzo, the special subject of tliis sketch ; 
 Horatio; Maria; and Charles. In religion, 
 both parents were of the Universal ist faith. 
 After the death of his fir.st wife Seth B. 
 Wakeman married Sarah Wheeler, also of 
 Fairfield County, Connecticut. 
 
 Alonzo Wakeman in 1878 bought the \-alu- 
 able farm of two hundred acres, on which his 
 daughter Emma now resides, and until his 
 death, as above mentioned, was recognized in 
 the community as one of its foremost agricult- 
 urists. Strictly honest and upright, he was 
 influential in the neighborhood, and, as a 
 Notary Public, for many years transacted a 
 good deal of business. In [jolitics, he was an 
 ai'ilent supporter of the pi'inciples of the Re- 
 publican party, but persistently refused to ac- 
 cept all offices, even that of president of the 
 National Bank, of which he was one of the 
 founders and for many years a director. 
 
 Mr. Alonzo Wakeman's first wife was Miss 
 Catharine Stall, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Peter Stall, of .Sharon, Schoharie County, 
 N. Y. ; she lived ten months after their mar- 
 
198 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 riage, her death occurring in 1834 at the 
 age of nineteen years and ele\'en months. 
 In June, E.S38, Mr. Wakenian married Mary 
 O'Dcll, who was Ijorn Sejjtember 26, 181 5, in 
 Redding, Conn., daughter of Ur. Joseph 
 O'Dell. Mrs. Wakcman is of French ances- 
 try, her great-grandfather O'Dcll, one of the 
 first settlers of Norwalk, Conn., having emi- 
 grated to that town from h'rance in Colonial 
 days. Nathan O'Dell, her grandfather, was a 
 prosperous farmer and a lifelong resident of 
 Norwalk, Conn. His wife, Mary Hurritt, 
 bore him fourteen children, all of whcjm grew 
 to maturity and married. Josejih O'Dell, 
 ha\ing received his early education in the 
 common schools, pursued the study of medi- 
 cine, at first with one of the local physicians. 
 Dr. Jesse Shepard, and afterward in New 
 York City. On graduating, he located first as 
 a practitioner in Dover, Conn., whence he re- 
 moved to Redding, Conn., where he continued 
 actively engaged in the practice of his profes- 
 sion. At the age of thirty-one years he died 
 in Charleston, S. C, while there for the bene- 
 fit of his health. His wife, Lucy Wakenian, 
 was burn in l-'airfield. Conn., a daughter of 
 Gershom Wakenian, second, who was an uncle 
 of Alonzo W'akeman. Gershom Wakenian, 
 second, married Sibbell Bradley, of Fairfield, 
 Conn., and Lucy was their only daughter. 
 They were \'ery prominent members of the 
 Congregational church. 
 
 Mr. Alonzo Wakenian is survi\ed by his 
 wife and four children ; namely, Emma, C'lara 
 A., ICUa, and Sarah \\\ I'.mnia J. married 
 Solomon Larkin, a farmer, who died in 1897, 
 
 leaving her with one child, Charles W. 
 Larkin; Clara A. is the wife of Ronieyn 
 l^rown, a hardware merchant of Oneonta, and 
 the mother of three children — Wakeman, 
 Floyd, and an infant (deceased) ; Ella is the 
 wife of George Story, a carpenter; and Sarah 
 W. is the wife of Daniel J. Gannon, who is 
 her third husband. Mrs. Wakeman ami all 
 her family e.\cept one are valued members of 
 the Lutheran church. 
 
 (^>r NDREW J. KLIXK, proprietor of a 
 ^4 well-stocked general store in I'atter- 
 >w.' sonville, Schenectady County, N. Y., 
 was born in this place, November i, 1850, son 
 of Joseph and Janet (Staley) Kline. His 
 father was born in Aiken, Montgomery 
 County, in 1818, and his mother was born in 
 Princetown, this county, in 1S23. Grand- 
 father Kline was an early settler in Montgom- 
 ery County, and there carried on general farm- 
 ing for the rest of his active period. 
 
 Joseph Kline was reared on his father's 
 farm. At the age of eighteen he came to Pat- 
 tersonville, then called Hoffman's Ferry, and 
 for a number of years he kejit a grocery store. 
 Removing to Swartztown, N.\'. , he carried on 
 the same business in connection with a hotel, 
 and also cultivated a farm. His activity con- 
 tinued until a few \ears prior to his death, 
 which occurred at the age of sevent}'-five 
 years. His wife died at seventy. She was 
 the mother of si.\ children, namely: Geroe G., 
 who died at the age of forty-si.x years; Andrew 
 J., the subject of this sketch; Oliver S. ; Jen- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 199 
 
 nie RL, who is now Mrs. Herrick ; Harriet 
 A. ; and E]la, wlio is now Mrs. Gregg. Mrs. 
 Janet Kline was a member of the Reformed 
 chureb. 
 
 Andrew J. Kline was reared and educated in 
 Swartztown. When a young man he began 
 business as a dealer in farm produce along the 
 Erie Canal, and was thus engaged for twelve 
 years. Since 18S6 he has been located at his 
 present place of business in Pattersonville. 
 His store, which is one of the leading sources 
 of supply in this section, is well stocked with 
 agricultural implements, fertilizers, and gen- 
 eral merchandise. 
 
 In 1877 Mr. Kline was united in marriage 
 with Henrietta Sterling, of Florida, N. Y., 
 daughter of VVinslow Sterling. Mrs. Kline is 
 the mother of three children; namely, Jessie 
 R., Bertha H., and I3oyd J, 
 
 Politically, Mr. Kline is a Democrat. 
 Able, energetic, and conscientious, he has se- 
 cured a firm foothold in business through his 
 own exertions, and he fully merits the high 
 esteem accorded him by his fellow-townsmen. 
 
 ^jTrOHN ROE, senior partner in the firm of 
 J. & E. Roe, general merchants of 
 Greenville, N.Y. , was born in Wiscon- 
 sin on October 16, 1S49, son of William P. 
 and Marietta (Newman) Roe. His paternal 
 grandfather, William Roe, was a farmer by 
 occupation. He liked to go from place to 
 place, and lived successively in Athens, 
 Greenville, and Cairo, owning farms at differ- 
 ent times in each of these places in Greene 
 
 County. He died at Cairo at the age of 
 eighty-four. His wife Jane, who was before 
 her marriage a Barker, was born in Greenville, 
 and belonged to one of the old pioneer families. 
 
 William P. Roe, son of William and Jane, 
 was born in Athens, N.Y. , and reared to farm 
 life. He lived for a time in Wisconsin, 
 where he was interested in speculating and in 
 farming, and held the office of Town Supervi- 
 sor. Later he returned to New York State, 
 settled in Greenville, and died here at the age 
 of seventy-eight. He was County Superinten- 
 dent of the Poor for three years. In politics 
 he was a Democrat. His wife, Marietta, was 
 a native of this place, and died here at the age 
 of fifty-two. She was the daughter of Alva 
 Newman, and one of a family of six children. 
 Her father was a Greenville farmer, but he re- 
 moved from Greenville to VVisconsin, and died 
 there at the age of seventy. Mrs. Marietta N. 
 Roe was the mother of six children. Of these 
 five are living, namely: John, the subject of 
 this sketch; Jasper, a farmer; Annis, wiio 
 married Charles Roe; Ella, who married 
 Charles Coonley ; and Edgar, who is a member 
 of the firm of Roe Brothers. Both parents 
 were Baptists. 
 
 John Roe came with his father and mother 
 to this town wlicn eight years old, and worked 
 with his father until twenty-six years of age. 
 In the winters of 1871, 1872, and 1873 he 
 taught school in Greenville, and one winter he 
 attended the Poughkeepsic lousiness College. 
 Then, at the age of twenty-six, he formed a 
 partnership with M. P. Blenis, which con- 
 tinued for twelve 3ears, or until the time of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mr. ]ilcnis's death. For the first year they 
 operated a general store located opposite Mr. 
 Roe's present stand, mov in<;' across the street 
 at the end of that time. V\)r.n tlie death of 
 Mr. menis, Mr. lulgar Roe bought out his in- 
 terests, antl the firm assumed its present name. 
 There is only one store in town larger than 
 this. A full liiie of general merchandise is 
 carried, including dry goods, groceries, boots 
 and shoes, crocker}' and glass ware, carpets 
 and oil-cli)ths, hats and caps. One clerk is 
 employeil. Mr. l\uc has now been in business 
 over twenty-three years, and is one of the old- 
 est merchants here. He is known through all 
 the country side, and cnjn\-s the esteem of 
 every one. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. Roe married Arvillia Deyo, a 
 native of Durham, and daughter of Milo Deyo, 
 now the popular blacksmith of (Jreenville. 
 Of this union four children have been born, by 
 name Milo H. , b'ord, Mary, and Jnhn. 
 
 In politics Mr. Rue is a Democrat. He has 
 given valuable service to the town in numerous 
 juiblic positions. In 1890, and the four suc- 
 ceeding years, he was Supervisor, and in 1894 
 and 1895 he was chairman of the board. lie 
 has been a member of the jinard of Education 
 ever sini'e it was organized. While chairman 
 of their boaixl in his last teini the .Supervisors 
 presented him with a vcr)' fine easy chair, this 
 being an expression of their appreciation of his 
 services while a member of the body. In 
 1897 he was elected Superintendent of the 
 Poor, to serve until I goo. Mr. Roe makes a 
 most efficient manager .for the almshouse. 
 Under his care the ]dace is kept in the best of 
 
 repair, and everything about it is neat and or- 
 derly, while the health and comfort of the 
 seventy inmates is carefully looked after. 
 
 Mr. Roe is a jiromincnt Mason, being con- 
 nected with James M. Austin Lodge, V. & 
 A. M., and Greenville Royal Arch Chapter, 
 No. 283. He has held all the offices in the 
 lodge, having been warden, deacon, master 
 for two )'ears, and secretary si.x years. His 
 membership in the lodge dates back twenty- 
 five years. He is a charter member of the 
 chapter, and has always been its treasurer. 
 He is frecpiently sent by his fellow-townsmen 
 as delegate to county conventions, and is a 
 member of the Town and Countv Committee. 
 No worth)' object fails to receive his warm and 
 active support, and be is often the originator 
 of plans, the carrying out cjf which proves to 
 be a benefit to the town and the community. 
 
 RANK L. CASPKR, manufacturer of 
 s extension tables and the patentee of 
 table sup])orts for drop-leaf tables, in the 
 town of Cf)l)leskill, Schoharie County, has a 
 large and finely ecpiipped plant at Howe's 
 Ca\'c, not far from the railway station of that 
 village. He was born October 10, 1857, in 
 the town of Cobleskill, and is the only sur- 
 viving son of George Casper, a well-known 
 business man of this section of the county. 
 He is of German and Scotch descent, and the 
 representative of a ]Moneer family of Scho- 
 harie County, his paternal grandfather, whose 
 name was Peter, having been an early settler 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 of this town. Peter Casper was a farmer and 
 the owner of a good homestead, which he 
 managed successfully until his death, at the 
 age of threescore years, lie and his wife, 
 whose maiden name was Margaret Hcrron, 
 were among the leading members of the Re- 
 formed church. They reared a large family 
 of children. 
 
 George Casper left the home farm on be- 
 coming of age, engaged in business for him- 
 self as a miller, purchasing a clover-mill and 
 a saw-mill, and afterward a planing-mill and 
 a cider-mill, all of which, with the exception 
 of the first named, he is still operating with 
 success. With true German thrift he saved 
 each year a portion of his earnings, and soon 
 erected the house in which he is now living. 
 He has also accumulated some other property. 
 A strong Democrat in politics, he takes an 
 intelligent interest in local matters, and has 
 served his fellow-townsmen in various ways. 
 He has held different offices in the I^eformed 
 cluirch, of which he antl his wife are active 
 members, and for a number of years has been 
 Elder of the church. He married Emeline 
 Berner, who was born in Barnerville, this 
 county, a daughter of John J. Berner. Of 
 their five children three are now living, as 
 follows: Ella, wife of Sylvester Mann, of 
 Howes Cave; Alice, wife of Harvey Boorn ; 
 and P'rank L. John P. Casper, who was pre- 
 paring for the ministry at Rutgers College, 
 died at the age of twenty-three years, and a 
 daughter, Ida, wife of Ira Rickard, died on 
 March 13, 1899. 
 
 I'^rank L. Casper in his boyhood and youth 
 
 acquired a practical common-school education, 
 and until attaining his majority assisted his 
 father in the care of his different mills. De- 
 sirous, then, of turning his natural mechani- 
 cal ability to some good account, he began 
 the manufacture of furniture on a small scale, 
 and succeeded so well that in the course of a 
 few years he was forced to build an addition 
 to the shop in which he had started his opera- 
 tions. He subsequently leased the main 
 building of the old Braman woollen factory, 
 and, erecting near by a drying kiln, a finish- 
 ing-room, and a wareroom, has here since 
 1882 devoted his entire time to the making of 
 extension tables. His plant is furnished with 
 the latest improved and approved machinery, 
 much of which he designed and made in his 
 own factory, this being, with a single excep- 
 tion, the only one of the kind between Bingham- 
 ton and Albany. Pie employs a large force of 
 men all the time in order to meet the demands 
 of his customers in the six New PLnglantl 
 States, New York, and Pennsylvania, his 
 tables being sold on their merits His trade, 
 already large, is constantly increasing, orders 
 being daily received from firms in different 
 parts of the Union. His factory and resi- 
 dence are both warmed by steam heat and 
 lighted throughout by electricity. 
 
 Mr. Casper is a steadfast Prohibitionist in 
 politics, and labors hard to advance the tem- 
 perance cause. He is an active member of 
 the Reformed church, in which he has served 
 as Elder and treasurer, and has also held 
 other offices. He has been connected with 
 the Sun'lay-school for many years, much of 
 
BIOGRArillCAL REVIEW 
 
 the time being its siipcrintciulent or the 
 teacher of the Hible class. 
 
 On March 5, 1879, Mr. Casper married 
 Miss Belle Becker, daughter of Francis 
 Becker, a prominent manufacturer of Scho- 
 harie County, owning and operating mills at 
 Central Bridge, Galupville, and Berne. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Casper have two children— Le Roy 
 and Lc (iiand, the eldest a ini|5il in the Coble- 
 skill High School, class of 1899. The 
 younger son will enter Cobleskill High 
 School the cominc fall. 
 
 I. LI AM H. STKWART, proprietor 
 '-'^V of the Stewart house in Athens, 
 N. \'., and a representative citizen of this 
 place, was born in Jacksonville, now Earlton, 
 ill the town of Coxsackie, Greene Count)', on 
 December <S, i S49, son of William C. anil 
 Margaret (Hardick) Stewart. William C. 
 Stewart, who was bmn in Coxsackie, was a 
 lawyer by profession, and practised in his na- 
 tive town for over a quarter of a century. He 
 was a leading man there, and for a number of 
 years was justice. In his later life he made 
 his home with his son William. His death 
 occurred in i8cS4, at the age of sixty-eight. 
 He was a Republican in politics. His wife 
 was born in the town of Athens, and died in 
 Earlton at the age of sixty-three. -She was 
 the daughter of Jacob Hardick, who carried on 
 farming on wliat was known as the Hardick 
 farm. .She boie her husband six children, 
 only two of whom are living; namely, William 
 H. and his sister, Lucy J. The latter, who 
 
 now resides in McHenr)', 111., is the wife of 
 Isaac Wentworth, formerly of Athens, Greene 
 Count)-, X.Y. 
 
 William II. Stewart's early years were spent 
 in Jacksonville in the town of Coxsackie, and 
 he attended the public schools there until he 
 was fifteen years of age. He then went to 
 work as errand boy in the store of Daniel 
 Whiting, who dealt in general merchandise, 
 and also carried on a brick manufacti)ry and 
 a wood yard. YoLMig Stewart rose from the 
 bumble position of errand boy to that of clerk, 
 and in this capacity worked for Mr. Whiting 
 some ten or twelve years. Subsequentl)' to that 
 he was clerk for a year in the Wormer House, 
 now the Arlington House, of Athens, and at 
 the end of that time, in 1S75, he purchased his 
 present property. The small house then stand- 
 ing on the lot was torn down, and the finely 
 ajipointed -Stewart house of to-day erected in 
 its place. The building is three stories high, 
 and is fittetl with all miulern improvements, 
 such as steam-heating apparatus, electricity for 
 call bells and for lighting, hot and cold water 
 and sanitary bath tubs. Besides the main 
 house, Mr. Stewart owns the three adjoining 
 houses and the dock where the ferry boat from 
 Hudson lands. He has accommodations for 
 about fifty guests, and as a landlord is deserv- 
 edly popular. He has always taken an active 
 part in [)olitics, and has been trustee of the 
 \illage a number of years and also school 
 trustee. 
 
 Mr. -Stewart was married in 1877 to Ida 
 Hollenbcck, who was born at (iuilderland 
 Centre, in Albany Count)-, ilaughter of Garret 
 
GEORGE W. ANDERSON. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 2°S 
 
 and Harriet (Van Valkenberg) Hollenbeck. 
 Her father, who was a farmer, died when only 
 forty years of age. Her mother, who was born 
 in Albany, is still living, being now sixty- 
 nine years of age. Of Mrs. Hollenbeck's 
 three children, Mrs. Stewart is the only one 
 living. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have one child, 
 Hattie W. , who lives with them. They lost 
 a son, Wilfred D., at the age of ten years. 
 
 Mr. Stewart is a member of Custer Lodge of 
 Odd Fellows, No. 508, and of the Knights of 
 I'ythias, No. 129, of Athens. He has served 
 several years as a member of Mackawack Hand 
 Engine Company, but is now exempt from 
 duty with that company, though he is an active 
 member of the Hook and Ladder Company, 
 which is said to be one of the finest in the 
 State. He is also a member of the Horse 
 Thief Detective Association, and one of its 
 riders. He is the oldest hotel man in this 
 town, and with one exception the oldest in the 
 county. His wife and daughter attend the Re- 
 formed church. In connection with his hotel 
 Mr. Stewart carries on a livery, which is one 
 of the best in the town. 
 
 (W^o 
 
 KORGE W. ANDERSON, the Icad- 
 \mJ__ ing business man of Hunter, Greene 
 County, N.Y., dealer in wood and coal and 
 building supplies, and proprietor of the Cen- 
 tral House, was born in New Sharon, Mon- 
 mouth County, N.J., May 12, 1850, his 
 [tarents being Jacob and Matilda (Brown) An- 
 derson. His grandfather Anderson resided in 
 I'errineville, N.J., in which town Jacob was 
 
 born in 1814. His grandmother, whose 
 maiden name was Mary Baldwin, was the 
 daughter of Thomas Baldwin. Her father 
 lived to the advanced age of ninety-three. 
 She died at the age of fifty, having been the 
 mother of five children. 
 
 Jacob Anderson was a carpenter and builder 
 by trade, and for thirty-five years carried on 
 business in Hightstown, Mercer County, N.J., 
 where he was a prominent citizen. The last 
 years of his life were spent on a farm. In 
 politics he was a Republican. He was an ac- 
 tive member of an Odd Fellows organization. 
 His death occurred in 1890, at the age of 
 seventy-six. His wife, Matilda, who was born 
 in Hightstown in 1824, and died in 1896, was 
 the daughter of Captain George W. Brown, 
 who commanded a company of militia stationed 
 at Sandy Hook in the War of 18 12. Both 
 Jacob Anderson and his wife were members of 
 the Methodist church. Of their family of five 
 sons and two daughters, only one, a son Jacob, 
 is deceased. The living are: Abijab A., 
 William W. , George W. , Carrie M., Thomas 
 B., and Lilly B. Carrie married John W. 
 Brown, and Lilly is the w^fe of Bills Flock. 
 
 George W. Anderson lived with his parents 
 and attended the common schools until he was 
 about sixteen years old, when he began life for 
 himself. At first he worked on a farm, and 
 then he learned the carpenter's trade. His 
 brothers, it may be mentioned, are also en- 
 gaged as carpenters and builders. He worked 
 at his trade in Hightstown, Freehold, New- 
 Brunswick, and Newark, N.J., and at College 
 Point, Lone: Island. Com in;/ to 1 1 miter in 
 
206 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 1876, Mr. Andcrsiiii worked for four years as a 
 wheelwright, but at the end of that time en- 
 gaged in the IniiUliug business. His success 
 has lieen remari<able. He has seen the town 
 double in size since he came here, and has him- 
 self put up the more important of the new 
 buildings. He built the Methodist church and 
 the Kaatsberg Hotel, remodelled the Hunter 
 House, built the church and the chair factor)- 
 at Kdgcwood, and many houses in Hunter, 
 Edgewood, and Tannersville. During busy 
 seasons he employed thirty hands, carrying 
 on the largest contracting business anywhere 
 in this section. During a number of years 
 he has sujiplied large quantities of lumber to 
 other builders, and for some time he was the 
 onl\- linuber dealer in five towns of this sec- 
 tion. He is consequently widely known. 
 Ml'. Anderson's house, which is one of the tin- 
 est in the village, was built by him, as was 
 also the building in which his office is now 
 located, and which was from iHSo to 1887 used 
 as a sash and iiliiul shop. Since 1884 Mr. 
 Anderson has done little oi- no building, Init 
 has gi\'en his time and attention to the man- 
 agement of his large lundier \ard and carriage 
 repository. In connection with this he does 
 a large business in coal, wood, and grain, and 
 carries a line of paints, oils, and hardware sup- 
 ])lies, and all kinds of building material used 
 by both carpenters and masons. He is the 
 only coal dealer in Hunter, Windham, Ash- 
 land, or Jewett. 
 
 Mr. Anderson was married in 1S72 to Julia 
 1".. Lake, daughter of Hiram and Iialhsheba 
 (Lounsben\) Lake. .She was born in l-'ree- 
 
 hold, N. \'. Her father, who was a farmer, 
 died at the age of si.xty, and her mother died 
 at the age of fift\-three. Of their two chil- 
 dien, Hiiam and Julia E., Mrs. Anderson is 
 the only one living. Mr. Lake was twice 
 marrictl. I!)' his fii'st wife, formerly Julia 
 Rockwell, of East Durham, N.V. , he had 
 two sons — James M. and Charles E., the 
 latter now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. .'Vnclerson 
 ha\'e two daughters, namely : Mabel, who is 
 yet in school ; and Anna Bell, who is the 
 wife of Elmer K. Goodsell, telegraph operator 
 and agent on the Stony Clove & Catskill 
 Mountain Railroad. (See biography on an- 
 other page.) There are three grandchildren — 
 Marguerite, Anderson, and \'era. 
 
 Mr. Anderson has always shown a vital in- 
 terest in all pnlilic affairs since first he came 
 to Hunter. He has served tiie town in the 
 office of Assessor for three years, as Commis- 
 sioner of Streets, as trustee and clerk of the 
 School ]3oard, as one of the Trustees of the vil- 
 lage, and is at the i)resent time a member of 
 the Town Committee. His political affilia- 
 tions are with the Republican partN'. He and 
 his family are members of the liajitist church, 
 but the}- attend the Methodist church in 
 Hunter, Mr. Anderson being a trustee of the 
 church and treasurer of the board. He can 
 alwa}s be depended upon to work for any good 
 cause in the church as well as outside. He 
 was one of the projectors of the Majilewood 
 Cemeter)' Association, and for many )-cars has 
 been its president. I-'i-aternall)-, he is a mem- 
 ber and treasurer of Mount Tabor Lodge, No. 
 807, V. & A. M., and of Mountain Chajiter, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 207 
 
 R. A. M. He was one of the charter members 
 of Catskill Chapter at Catskill. 
 
 (chared van VVAGENEN, a wcll- 
 kiiDwii and prosperous agricultLiri.st of 
 Lawyersville, Schoharie County, own- 
 ing and occupying the valuable estate known 
 as Hillside farm, was born January 13, 1835, 
 near Sharon Hill, in the neighboring town of 
 Seward. Son of Rynear Van Wagenen, he is 
 of Dutch ancestry, being a lineal descendant of 
 Aart Jacobsen Van Wagenen, who emigrated 
 from Wageningen, Holland, a town not far 
 from the Rhine, to Bergen, N.J., in 1650, and 
 whose name, with that of his wife, Annctji 
 Gerrits, was recorded as a member of the 
 Dutch church of Kingston, Bergen County, 
 June 24, 1 66 1. 
 
 Conrad Van Wagenen, grandfather of Jared, 
 was born January 15, 1752, in Somerset 
 County, New Jersey, whence in early manhood 
 he removed to Charleston, Montgomery 
 County, N.Y. , as one of its earliest settlers. 
 He took up unimproved land, and, having 
 cleared a portion of it, devoted himself to gen- 
 eral farming, in conjunction with which he 
 operated a small tannery. He subsequently 
 came to Schoharie County, and, buying a farm 
 near Sharon Hill, resided there until his 
 death, at the venerable age of ninety years. 
 Tradition says that he was present as a guard 
 at the execution of Major Andre on October 2, 
 1780, at Tappan. 
 
 Rynear Van Wagenen with liis numerous 
 bi'(jlhers and sisters was brought up on a farm. 
 
 spending his earliest years in Charleston, 
 N. Y. , and completing his education in the dis- 
 trict schools of Sharon, whither he accompa- 
 nied his parents when a boy. On reaching 
 man's estate he bought land in Cobleskill, 
 where for a number of years he was engaged in 
 farming. His death occurred at the home of 
 his son Jared, in the seventieth )'ear of his 
 age. He was quite active in local matters, 
 serving his fellow-townsmen in various offices 
 besides that of Justice of the Peace, which he 
 hekl several terms. In [lolitics he was a 
 strong adherent of the Democratic party. His 
 wife, Emily Goodyear, was born on Hillside 
 farm, then owned by her father, Jared Good- 
 year, who was born and reared in Hampden, 
 Conn. Mr. Goodyear on removing to New 
 York became a pioneer settler in a small town 
 near Ithaca, which was named Goodyears. 
 On account of malaria he left that place, and 
 coming to Schoharie County bought two hun- 
 dred acres of woodland in Coble.skill, and here 
 spent the remainder of his life. He erected 
 a log house for his first dwelling, and then 
 began the improvement of his projicrty. He 
 cleared a considerable tract of his land, and, 
 being an energetic, progressive man, he was 
 very successful not only as a farmer, but as one 
 of the most popular tavern-keepers of this 
 vicinity. Eour sons were born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Rynear Van Wagenen, and three of them 
 survive, as follows: Jared, of Lawyersville; 
 Albert, of Boston, Mass. ; and Jame.s, who re- 
 sides with his brother Jared. Both parents 
 were mcml)ers of the Reformed church. 
 
 Jared Van Wagenen lived at hnme until 
 
30,S 
 
 l!U>c;RArilKAl, RKVIKW 
 
 nino \o.us old, wIk'ii ho booaiiio an iiiuiato uf 
 tlu' lunisoluilil of liis uiulcs, Willis and George 
 Goiulyou, wliii lirought him up, their home 
 being the farm where he now resides. He 
 attended the distriet school and assisted in the 
 farm labors until the ileath of his uncles, ami 
 since that time has had entire charge of this 
 magnificent farm of two Inunlreil and fifty 
 acres, one of the finest in its improvements of 
 anv in this section of Schoharie Ctnintv. He 
 makes a specialty of dairying, keeping a herd 
 of thirty or fort\' cows, and manufactures a fine 
 grade of butter, which he sells to special cus- 
 tomers in this \ icinity. A few years ago Mr. 
 Van W'agenon built his large barn, three 
 stories in height, one hundred and thirty by 
 eighty - seven feet, with all nnnlern equip- 
 ments, including an engine ami two siUts of 
 two hundred tons capacity. 
 
 lie h.is been an active member of the Coble- 
 skill Agricultural Society; also of the New 
 York State Agricidtunil Association; and is 
 vice-president of the Farmers' and Merchants' 
 Hank. In politics he is a loyal Democrat, and 
 has been Supervisor of the town two vears. 
 He contributes liberally toward the m.iinte- 
 nance of the Dutch Reformed church, of which 
 he and his family are members, and in which 
 he has held many of the offices. 
 
 On November iS, 1858, Mr. \'an Wagenen 
 married l.oraine McNeill, the onlv child of 
 Mr. and Mrs. lirazillia McNeill. Her mother 
 is still living, a capable woman of eighty-si.\ 
 years. Mr. and Mrs. Van Wagenen have one 
 .son living; namely, Jared, Jr.. born May 14, 
 1871; and have been bereft of one, Albert, 
 
 who ilieil at the age of fifteen years, jared 
 \'an Wagenen, jr., obtained his elementary 
 education in I.awyersville, and after his grad- 
 uation at the Cobleskill High School took the 
 Hachelor's degree in 1891, and the Master's de- 
 gree in 1896 at Cornell Universitx', where he 
 has since taught in the Dairv Dei)artnient. 
 He is now assisting his father on the home 
 farm. He mariied Magdalena l.amont, the 
 only child of K. W. Lamont, a prominent 
 farmer of this town. Two children have been 
 born of this union; namely, Sarah Lamont and 
 Loraine McNeill. 
 
 'jY^rDOLni BESTLE, M.D., a leading 
 ihysician and surgeon of Hunter, 
 N.Y. , was born in Troy, this State, 
 on August 20, 1866, his jiarents being John 
 and Wilhelmina (Shutheis) Bestle. His 
 father, who was of German birth, came to 
 Troy, N.Y. , before marriage, and engaged in 
 the restaurant business. He died when only 
 thirty-four years of age. He and his wife were 
 members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. 
 Bestle also was born in Germany, being one of 
 a family of several children. She is still liv- 
 ing at Kingston, this State. Her father, who 
 was a druggist and nieilical practitioner, lived 
 to the advanced age of ninety-eight years. Of 
 her eight children, four are living, namely: 
 George, who resides in New York; Henrietta, 
 who married William \\"eston, of Rondout ; 
 August ; and Rudolph, the special subject of 
 this biography. 
 
 Rudolph Bestle received his elementary edu- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL RKVIEVV 
 
 209 
 
 cation ill the coniiiioii sciiools, and at the age 
 of eighteen began the study of medicine with 
 Dr. McLane, a leading physician of Troy, and 
 Dr. O' Conner of the Troy Hospital. He sub- 
 sequently entered the Albany Medical College, 
 and was graduated at that institution in 1888, 
 at twenty-one years of age, standing high in 
 his class. He innnediately began the practice 
 of his profession in Troy, but eighteen months 
 later removed to lUu'ke, in iManklyn County, 
 N. Y., where he remaineil foi' the next six 
 years. He then came to Hunter, where he has 
 since been in |)ractice. He is a general piac- 
 titioner, and also a surgeon of unusual skill, 
 having performed many difficult operations. 
 During his two years in the Troy Hosjiital, and 
 for several months while he was in the New 
 York I'olyclinic, he had a large amount of val- 
 uable experience in attending cases of appendi- 
 citi.s, and in his subsequent practice he has had 
 r«markable success with the many cases of that 
 nature brought to him for treatment. 
 
 Dr. Bestle is a member both of the Greene 
 County Medical Society and of the Medical 
 Society of Northern New York. He is also a 
 member of the .Sixth .Separate Company of 
 militia of Tro), anil of the Arba Reed Steamer 
 Company of that city. Fraternally, he holds 
 mend)ership in l''rontier Lodge, V. & A. M., of 
 Chateaugay. In politics the Doctor is a Re- 
 ]iublican, antl in religious faith an ICpiscopa- 
 lian, being connected with .Sf. Paul's Episco- 
 pal Church of Troy. Although he has been in 
 Hunter a comparatively sht)rt lime, he has al- 
 read}' built up a large pi'actice, and is very 
 popular both socially and professionally. 
 
 \C/^;/ I'LLINGTON E. HASSLER, one of 
 the leading business men of Middle- 
 burg, N.Y. , was born on August ig, 1S4S, .son 
 of David and Augusta (Tibbit.s) Bassler. His 
 IKiternal grandfather was Henry Hassler. He 
 was born in Knox, Albany County, and s[)ent 
 his early years in that ))lace. After his mar- 
 riage he came to Huntersland, this town, and 
 settled on what is now known as the IJassler 
 homestead, where he spent the remainder of 
 his life, anil where he died at the age of forty- 
 four. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary 
 Saddlemyer, was also a native of Albany 
 County. She lived to reach the age of eighty- 
 nine. Of the ten children born to her, five 
 are living, namely: Amanda, who married Re- 
 solved Macombcr; Amaziah ; Eliza Ann, who 
 married lY-leg Cook; Sylvester, who occupies 
 the old homestead; and Eucy, who married 
 Salem Smith, and resides near Rensselaerville, 
 Albany County. 
 
 David ]5assler, who was born in Hunters- 
 land, March 22, 1S22, and died Sejitember 13, 
 1893, was reared on tbe home farm, and up to 
 1859, with the exception of one year, was en- 
 gaged exclusively in agricultural work. In 
 1S60 he went into mercantile life in Ihmters- 
 land; and in 1869 lie bought the I.uther 
 Vroman store in Middleburg, at the corner of 
 Main Street and Railroad Avenue, and thus 
 became the pioprietor of what to-day, under the 
 efficient management of his successors, is one 
 of the leading stores in town. David 15assler's 
 wife, to whom he was married in October, 
 1S47, was the daughter of Harry and 15etsy 
 (Styles) Tibbits, of Huntersland, early resi- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 dents of the town. Mr. Tibbits lived to be 
 eighty-five years of age, and Mrs. Tibbits lived 
 to be sixty. Mrs. Augusta T. Bassler, who 
 died on September 7, 1S80, at the age of fifty- 
 two, was one of four daughters born to her 
 parents. She was a member of the Christian 
 church at lluntersland. llcr children were. 
 Wellington K. ]5assler; Ida, who married Peter 
 Wormer; and VAVa. who married George H. 
 Hyde, of Middleburg. 
 
 Wellington E. l^assler was educated in the 
 public schools, and at .Starkey Seminary, from 
 which he was graduated in June, iS6g. Fol- 
 lowing this he was clerk in his father's store 
 for two years, and then in 1S71 he was admitted 
 to a half-interest in the business, which as- 
 sumed the name of D. Bassler & Son. In 
 April, 1875, John H. Cornell bought the elder 
 Mr. Bassler's interest, and the firm name was 
 changed to Hassler & Cornell. On January i, 
 1880, Mr. Cornell retired. In 1887 Mr. Bass- 
 ler took into partnership two of his clerks, 
 C. L. McBain and George B. Wheeler, and 
 the firm name has since been W. E. Bas.sler 
 & Co. 
 
 Mr. ]5assler is a wide-awake man, and is in- 
 terested in varied enterprises of a progressive 
 character. He is a warm-hearted Republican, 
 and has been connected with the Republican 
 County Committee for some time, six years as 
 its chairman, and a number of years as secre- 
 tary of the committee. On AjmII i, 1889, he 
 assumed the duties of Postma.ster of Middle- 
 burg. lie held this position five years, and in 
 that time he greatly improved the postal ser- 
 vice of this town, had the satisfaction of seeing 
 
 the office raised from the fourth class to the 
 third class list, and the position of Postmaster 
 made a salaried one. Since then the salary 
 has been increased by five hundred dollars. 
 Mr. Bassler was nominated for the Assembly 
 in 1894, and again in 1S96, and in both in- 
 stances ran ahead of his ticket by huiuh'etls of 
 votes. Since 1894 he has been president of the 
 Mutual Fire InsLuance Association, which was 
 formed that year by the business men of Mid- 
 dleburg, to embrace Schoharie, Otsego, and 
 Albany Counties, Chenango and Montgomery 
 Counties having been added since. This as- 
 sociation has met with remarkable success, and 
 does a very large amount of business. Mr. 
 Bassler is also a director in the (^ak Hill and 
 MidJleburg Local Exchange Telephone Com- 
 panies; a director ()f the First National Bank 
 of Middlebiu'g; directcjr of the Middleburg and 
 Schoharie Railroad; and president of tlie hoaid 
 of trustees of Starkey .Seminary, which position 
 he has held since 1881. He was a trustee of 
 Middleburg Academy for six years, and for 
 four years of the time president of the board. 
 Ten years ago he founded the .Starkey Semi- 
 nary Monthly, of which he was the editcir until 
 1897. Mr. l^assler is an active worker in the 
 Reformed chui'ch, and since 18S4 has been 
 superintendent of its Sunday-school. From 
 1882 to 1 888 he was secretary of the County 
 Association of Suntlay-schools, and subse- 
 cpiently for five years he was president (if the 
 association. .Since 1893 he has been jiresident 
 of the Schoharie County liible Society. 
 
 Mr. Bassler's store is in a most prosi)erous 
 condition. Four assistants are employed in its 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 management; and since it is one of the old- 
 established business enterprises in this region, 
 and has always maintained its early rejjutation 
 for honest dealing and high grade goods, it has 
 the confidence and the patronage of the public. 
 
 Mr. Bassler has seen many and important 
 changes in Middleburg since he first began 
 business here. The handsome school-house 
 has been built, many of the big business blocks 
 have been erected, and a water supply system 
 has been introduced into the town. He him- 
 .self has aided in many of the more noteworthy 
 improvements. On January i, 1890, he asso- 
 ciated himself with Mr. G. L. Fox in founding 
 the Middleburg Nczvs, a paper advanced in rank 
 and one now growing steadily in favor, as well 
 as one which bears the distinction of being the 
 first Republican paper in this end of the 
 county. 
 
 In 1874 Mr. Bassler was united in marriage 
 with Alida, only child of Hezekiah Manning, 
 and a native of this place. Mr. Manning was 
 born here, and spent his entire life engaged in 
 farming. He died in 1889. Mis wife, whose 
 maiden name was Maria Beekman, was born in 
 Sharon. She resides with Mr. and Mrs. Bass- 
 ler. Since his marriage Mr. Bassler has made 
 his home at the old Manning homestead, which 
 is a very attractive place just outside the vil- 
 lage, the house being sheltered by tall elms 
 and stately pines, surrounded by extensive 
 grounds, and guarded by the dark-browed, lofty 
 cliffs which stand as venerable sentinels at the 
 eastern portals of the .Schoharie Valley. Mr. 
 liassler is a great fancier of poultry, and has 
 model poultry yards, where he raises many 
 
 fancy breeds, such as Leghorns, Plymouth 
 Rocks, and Light Bramahs. He makes a 
 feature of egg-producing poultry, and ships 
 eggs West as far as Colorado, and South as far 
 as Maryland. He is also a fancier of Holstein 
 cattle. 
 
 §OIIN A. MYER.S, a veteran agricult- 
 urist of Seward, N. Y. , living about two 
 miles from the village of Hyndsville, 
 was born in this town, March 27, 18 19, a son 
 of Philip P. and Catherine (Strobeck) Myens. 
 His paternal grandfather, Peter Myers, came 
 from Dutchess County to Schoharie County at 
 an early period of its hist(jry, and for a short 
 time lived in Seward. He removed from here 
 to Otsego County, and, purchasing land near 
 the town of South Valley, improved a farm, on 
 which he resided many years. He finally re- 
 turned to Seward, and died at the home of 
 his son, Philip P. He was twice married, and 
 by his second wife, who was the grandmother 
 of John A., had five children. 
 
 Philip P. Myers, son of Peter, was reared to 
 farming pursuits, and soon after his marriage 
 settled on the Myers homestead, now owned 
 and occupied by his son, John A. Here he 
 toiled with persistent energy to clear anil im- 
 prove a farm, and was numbered among the re- 
 spected and successful farmers of the neighbor- 
 hood. His death occurred at the age of three- 
 score years and ten. He was a strong sup- 
 porter of the 'principles of the Democratic 
 party, but never aspired to political office. 
 LI is wife, Catherine, was born in Sewartl, 
 being one of the si.x children of John A. 
 
IJIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Strobeck, a prominent pioneer farmer of the 
 town, and one of its most esteemed citizens. 
 Mr. Strobeck as a young man served in the war 
 of tlie Revolution, and in one of its battles was 
 severely wounded. He attained the advanced 
 age of eighty years. Philip P. and Catherine S. 
 Myers reared six children, two of whom are 
 living, namely: John A., the first-born; and 
 Catherine, resitling in l'2ast Worcester, being 
 tiie wife of Abraham Smith, who is her second 
 husband. 
 
 John A. M\ers was educated in the district 
 school. VoY three and one-half years after his 
 marriage he li\cd on the old home farm with 
 his parents, subsequently lived for a year with 
 his father-in-law, and then rented a farm on 
 shares for four years. Having accumulated 
 some money, he next bought a farm of one 
 hundred and nine acres on Winegard Hill, 
 where lie lived for eighteen years, when he 
 sold that antl jnirchased a larger farm, of one 
 hundred and forty acres, which he carried on 
 two years. Returning then to the old home- 
 stead, he took charge of it until the death of 
 his father, and after that event he bought out 
 the other heirs, and has since been its sole 
 l^ossessor. This i>lace contains one hunilred 
 and twenty-five acres of land, most of which is 
 under cultivation; and he has also another es- 
 tate near by of one hundred and twenty-two 
 acres, which he rents by the year. He has 
 practically given up the management of his 
 property to his son Peter, who lives with him, 
 and they are carrying on general farming and 
 dairying with signal success, and arc also en- 
 gaged to some extent in manufacturing lumber. 
 
 In politics I\Ir. M\ers is identified with the 
 Democratic ])arty, but has persistently refused 
 to accept all offices excepting those of High- 
 way Commissioner and Collector of Taxes, 
 both of which he filled a short time. He is 
 an active member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, of wliich he has been trustee and 
 steward, and has been connected with the 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 On May 28, 1839, Mr. Myers married Emily 
 15. \'oungs, who was born in Seward, a daugh- 
 ter of Adam Youngs, formerly a well-to-do 
 farmer and lumber manufacturer, he having 
 been owner of the saw-mill now operated by 
 Mr. Myers and his son. Mr. and Mrs. Myers 
 have had nine children, six of whom grew to 
 mature years, namely : Adam, a jihysician in 
 Buskirk, Rensselaer County, who married Mary 
 Diefendorf, and has two children — Victor and 
 Ralph; Millard, deceased, who married Han- 
 nah Shear, and had one child, Emily; P'lmira, 
 the wife of Harvey Oliver, a farmer; Peter, 
 who lives on the home farm, married Mary 
 Marks, and has three children — John D., 
 Howard C, and Dewey Willard; Lorenzo, the 
 oldest child, who died leaving a widow, whose 
 maiden name was Lottie M. .Simmonds, and 
 one child, Lewis; and Julia, who died at the 
 age of eighteen years. 
 
 'Rh:Di:RICK EISENMENGER, I'olice 
 Justice, Schenectady, N.Y., was born 
 in this city, March 21, 1849, son of ?'erdinand 
 and Wilhelmina (Laman) Eisenmenger. 'I'he 
 
FREDERICK EISENMENGER. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 l)arents were born in Germany, the father 
 about the year 1827. 
 
 In 1846, having acquired a good education 
 and mastered the machinist's trade, he came 
 to tiie United States, intending to engage in 
 business. Instead of adhering to his original 
 jdan, he entered the employ of the Schenec- 
 tady & Utica Railway Company, with whom 
 he remained about sixteen years. In 1862 
 he enlisted as a private in Company K, 
 One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, 
 New York Volunteers, with which he served 
 in the Civil War until fatally vv(junded in 
 May, 1864, his death occurring on June 16 of 
 the same year. Mrs. Wilhelmina Eisen- 
 menger, his wife, was left with two children: 
 Pauline, who died in 1865, aged five years; 
 and Frederick, the subject of this sketch. 
 The mother died in 1886, at the age of sixty- 
 eight. 
 
 On August II, 1862, Frederick Fisen- 
 menger, when but thirteen years old, joined 
 the same regiment in which his father en- 
 listed, and was enrolled in the ranks of Com- 
 [lany 15, being one of the youngest vohmteers 
 to enter the service. He was detailed to serve 
 at division headquarters under Major-general 
 John VV. Geary, commander of the Second 
 Division, Twentieth Army Corps, and after- 
 ward Governor of Pennsylvania. While in front 
 of Atlanta he received a severe woiinil in 
 the jaw, and he was mustered out with his 
 regiment in June, 1865. In 1868 he began a 
 four years' apprenticeship at the machinist's 
 trade in the Schenectady Locomotive Works, 
 and he completed the term. Feeling the need 
 
 of a better education, he studied nights, and 
 while still employed at the works he began to 
 read law under the direction of Judge Yates. 
 He practised his profession until May 2, 1882, 
 when he was appointed Police Justice. The 
 duties of this position he has performed with 
 marked ability for over sixteen years. His 
 present term will expire in 1900. 
 
 In September, 1874, Judge Fisenmenger 
 married Louisa, daughter of the late Louis 
 Pepper, of this city. They have two children, 
 namely : P^rederick, who was graduated from 
 the high school in 1895, and is now in the ex- 
 perimental department of the General Electri- 
 cal Works; and Clara, now a student at the 
 high school. 
 
 Judge Fisenmenger belongs to St. George 
 Lodge, No. 6, F. & A. M. ; is Past Com- 
 mander of Horsfall Post, No. go, G. A. R. ; 
 and president of the One Hundred and Thirty- 
 fourth Regimental Association. He is a 
 member and has been an official of the Meth- 
 odist I{piscopal church. His residence at 105 
 Union Avenue was built by him in 1887, and 
 he purchased for his mother the house in which 
 she spent lier last yeans. 
 
 <^*^» 
 
 ILLIAM W. PURGFTT, M.D., of 
 
 '-^V the village of Fultonham, one of 
 tlie foremost physicians and surgeons of Scho- 
 harie County, was born in P'ultonham, May 14, 
 i860. He is the son of Charles S. and Julia 
 A. (Teller) Purgett, and is a lineal descendant 
 in the sixth generation of one of two brothers 
 who came from Holland to America in the 
 
2l6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 early part of the eighteenth century and set- 
 tled on Manhattan Island. They bought land, 
 and afterward leased one hundred acres near 
 the present site of Trinity Church in New 
 ■S'ork City, for a term of ninety-nine years, 
 l^oth married, and both had sons in the Re\o- 
 lutionary arm)-. "Hurghardt," the original 
 spelling of their surname, was retained until 
 within a comparatively few years. 
 
 I\Iillbur\- 15urghardt, or Hurgelt, the next in 
 line of descent, was a jjioneer of .Schoharie 
 County, and the founder of the family in Ful- 
 ton, where he reared his eight children, one of 
 whom, Millbury, was the succeeding ancestor. 
 Storm Burgett, son of Conrad Burgett, was the 
 Doctor's grandfather. lie was born in I'ul- 
 ton, and there he liveil and died. He owned 
 the farm now in the jiossession of Mr. C. E. 
 Markham, of whom a brief sketch may be 
 found on another jJage of this volume. He 
 was a wagon-maker and carpenter b\' trade, oc- 
 cu[)ations at which he worked in conjunction 
 with farming, and was well known as one of 
 the most industrious and thrifty men of the 
 community. To Storm Burgett and his wife, 
 whose maiden name was Sally lianner, si.\ 
 children were born, three of whom are li\ing; 
 namely, Charles .S., Lydia, wife of Timothy 
 Becker, and Peter. 
 
 Charles S. Burgett was born in P^dton, .'\u- 
 gust 30, I S3 1, and spent his earlier years on 
 the home farm. He subsequently learned the 
 blacksmith's trade, at which he continued to 
 Work until 1866, when he bought the hotel 
 which he has since managed successfidly. He 
 is a stanch Democrat in jxditics, but has never 
 
 been an aspirant for official honors. Botli he 
 and his wife are members of the Lutheran 
 church. In 185 i he married Julia ^\. Teller, 
 who was born August 4, 1S32, in Indton. 
 
 Her father, Cornelius Teller, spent the en- 
 tire si.\ty-one years of his life in this town, 
 being engaged during his active period in 
 agricultural pursuits on a small farm that he 
 had bought near his boyhootl's home. He was 
 one of the leading Democrats of this vicjnity, 
 and served as a Tax Cidlector two terms in the 
 earlier j^art of this century, when the entire 
 receipts for the year were but one thousand 
 one hundred dollars, against the eight thou- 
 sand dollars collected in i.SgS. His wife, 
 Lavinia \'r()man, was a daughter of Martin 
 Woman, a lifelong farmer of what is now the 
 town of Middleburg; and Lavinia V^roman's 
 mother, the grandmother of Mrs. Charles S. 
 Burgett, was before marriage a Miss Zeie, 
 who was born in Mitldleburg in Colonial days, 
 and from the age of seven to fourteen years, 
 during the entire jieriod of the Revolution, 
 lived in the L'pper P'ort. Corneliii-s Teller's 
 father, William Teller, was born in Schenec- 
 tady, N.V., whence he came when a young 
 man to this county, and in 1800 settled in the 
 town of Miildleburg, where he lived until his 
 death, at the age of forty-two years. He was 
 a shoemaker by trade. After coming here he 
 married Maggie Feeck, the descendant of one 
 of the original settlers of this ]iart of the 
 county. .She survived him, living to the age 
 of fifty-six years. Both were acti\e members 
 of the Reformed church. They reared eight 
 children. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 217 
 
 Of the five chiklrLMi born of the union of 
 Charles S. and Julia A. (Teller) Burgett, three 
 are still living; namely, Marion, the Doctor, 
 and Laura. Marion, after the death of her first 
 husband, Frank P. Haynes, married Warren 
 P. Hollenbeck, a prominent farmer in the town 
 of Broome, N.Y. Laura married first liarland 
 Haynes, of Fulton, who died leaving her with 
 one child, Marion Harland. She is now the 
 wife of F. J. Graham, a shoe dealer of New 
 York City, and has one child by this marriage, 
 Mildred. Both parents are members of the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 William W. Burgett obtained the rudiments 
 of his education in the public schools of Ful- 
 tonham, and was further advanced in learning 
 by a course of study at the high school under 
 Professor Sias, of whom a biographical sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this Review. A short 
 time he spent as a clerk in the store of H. T. 
 Kingsley, and he taught school one term in 
 Fulton. Going then to Schoharie, he read 
 medicine two years with Dr. Layman, after 
 which he entered the medical department of 
 the University of New York City, from which 
 he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine 
 in March, 1S82, at the age of twenty-one 
 years. In addition to the regular curriculum 
 of the university, he took special clinical e.\- 
 aminations at Bellevue Hospital under Profes- 
 sor William 11. Thompson, while at the same 
 hospital he received jirivate instruction in 
 physical diagnosis from Professor Alfred L. 
 I.oomis, in operative surgery from Professor J. 
 W. Wright, and in urinary analyses under Pro- 
 fessor John C. Draper. Returning to P"ulton- 
 
 ham immediately after his gradu.ttion, Dr. 
 Burgett here began the duties of his profession, 
 and has since built up a large and successful 
 patronage as a general medical practitioner. 
 In 1884 he erected his present residence in the 
 village, and also a substantial barn on the same 
 lot. He has served a number of terms on the 
 local Board of Health, and for si.\ years has been 
 County Coroner. Politically, he is a sound 
 Democrat. He is a member of the Schoharie 
 County Medical Society, of which he has been 
 vice-president and president. He is also a 
 member of Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, V. & 
 A. M. , and is at present Master of FuJtonham 
 Grange, No. 809. 
 
 On September 25, 1883, Dr. Burgett mar- 
 ried Miss Maggie PI Schaeffer, who was boin 
 in P^ulton, daughter of Hendrick Schaeffer, a 
 retired farmer (jf P'ulton. Among the pioneer 
 settlers of the town of Schoharie was Christian 
 Schaeffer, one of the largest landholders of that 
 locality, whose son, Jacob Henry, born in 
 Schoharie in 1808, was the grandfather of Mrs. 
 Burgett. Grandfather Schaeffer was a lifelong 
 agriculturist of Schoharie, where he spent his 
 eighty-eight years of earthly existence, and 
 was one of its most esteemed citizens. He 
 was a Republican in politics, and served as an 
 Overseer of the Poor. He contributed liber- 
 ally toward the support of the Lutheran church, 
 of which he was one of the oldest and most in- 
 fluential members. His wife, Ann Alida 
 Groesbeck, who died at the age of eighty-four 
 years, bore liim ten children. Hendrick 
 Schaeffer marrietl Helen Borst, a native of 
 Middleburg, and a daugiiter of Peter H. Borst, 
 
!l8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RPA'IEW 
 
 the representative of an early family of Scho- 
 harie County, and himself one of the most 
 wealthy and prominent of its farmers. He 
 was a member of the Lutheran church, and his 
 death, at the age of sixty-five years, removed 
 from that ori;anization one of its substantial 
 sujjporters. His wife, Nancy I-lffner, a lite- 
 lony resident of Middleburg, died in 1861. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hendrick Schaeffer reared four 
 children, of whom three are living, as follows: 
 Charles, a farmer in Schoharie; Alida, wife of 
 Seneca Maynes ; and Maggie E. , now Mrs. 
 Burgett. Peter, a carpenter, died at the age 
 of thirty-five years. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Burgett have two children, 
 namely: William Layman, who was named for 
 one of the Doctor's early preceptors; and 
 Ch;nies Leland. Dr. Burgett is an elder and 
 one of the trustees of the Lutheran church, 
 and Mrs. Burgett also is an active church 
 member, and for many years has been a teacher 
 in the Sunday-school. 
 
 ,\CAY ll-'-'-^'^' !'■ '^"■:AD, M.l)., the vet- 
 eran physician and surgeon of Wind- 
 ham, Greene County, N.Y. , was born in 
 Jevvett, this county, on April 6, 1833, to 
 Stephen and Caroline (Hosford) Mead. His 
 great-grandfather Hosford, whose Christian 
 name was Gideon, was a prominent farmer and 
 land-owner in Farmington, Conn., and Dr. 
 Mead has in his possession some of the ances- 
 tral deeds bearing the .seal of King George. 
 
 Philip Mead, the Doctor's paternal grand- 
 father, was born in Dutchess County, New 
 
 York, and grew up on a farm. He removed to 
 Jewctt when his son Stephen was five years 
 old, finding his way hither by following 
 marked trees. He lived first in most primi- 
 tive fashion in a log hut, but in time cleared 
 a goodly tract of land and erected a commodi- 
 ous frame house. He was a lifelong farmer. 
 After spending some years in Jevvett, he went 
 to Cayuga, near Weedsport, where he resided 
 until his death, at sixty years of age. The 
 maiden name of his wife was Hannah Town- 
 send. The)- had a large family of children. 
 
 The Doctor's father, Stephen Mead, was 
 born in Dutchess County, and reared to farm 
 life. When he became of age he purchased 
 a farm in Jewctt, where he spent the remainder 
 of his life, anil where he died at the age of 
 eighty-six. Lie followed agriculture and lum- 
 bering, and did a large business in selling 
 bark to tanners. He and his wife, Caroline, 
 were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. Mrs. Mead died at the age of sixty- 
 nine. She was the daughter of Joel and Maria 
 Hosfortl, farmer folk of Jewett. Her father 
 died at the age of eighty-four, and her mother, 
 who was of Dutch descent, died while quite a 
 young woman, although .she lived to bear four 
 children. Stephen and Caroline Mead were 
 also the parents of foui" children, three of whom 
 are living, namely: Dr. William 11., of Wind- 
 ham; Dr. J. H. Mead, of Hunter, a sketch of 
 whose life is to be found on another page; and 
 Adeline, who married Alanson Woodworth, of 
 LIuntcr, whose biography also appears in this 
 volume. 
 
 William II. Mead's early life was spent on 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 219 
 
 his father's farm in Jewett. He attended the 
 common schools of the town, and later became 
 a teacher in them and in the schools of Hunter. 
 After teaching for several years he took up the 
 stuily of medicine with his brother Joel, then 
 settled in Hunter, and he subsequentl}- attended 
 the Albany Medical College. After his grad- 
 uation in 1868 he began practice in Ashland, 
 where he remained until 1879, when he came 
 to Windham. He has now been in continuous 
 practice here for thirty years, and, barring one 
 or two exceptions, is the oldest medical practi- 
 tioner in service in the county. He has given 
 much attention to surgery, and has performed 
 some remarkable operations, his skill being 
 known throughout the county. His career as 
 a general practitioner has also been a distin- 
 guished one. 
 
 In 1856 Dr. William H. Mead was united 
 in marriage with Matilda Winter, daughter, 
 and one of a number of children, of Moses 
 Winter, a farmer of Jewett. Mrs. Mead died 
 November 26, 1896. Of the three childien 
 born to her, one died at the age of ten months, 
 and another at the age of five years. A daugh- 
 ter, Eugenie, is living. She is the wife of 
 Emery A. Hill, a well-known Windham 
 farmer, and has two children — Blanche and 
 William Henry. 
 
 Dr. Mead is a stanch Republican. His first 
 Presidential vote was cast in 1856, and he has 
 voted every election since with the exception 
 of one. He has held a few minor ofifices in 
 the village, but in the main has refused public 
 office. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
 ternity in this town, and was elected Junior 
 
 Warden within two weeks after joining the 
 organization. He has been a member of the 
 Greene County Medical Society ever since it 
 was started, twenty-five years ago. His church 
 connections are with the Methodist society of 
 this place, of wdiich also his wife was a mem- 
 ber. For many years he w^as steward in the 
 church, but within a short time he has tendered 
 his resignation of that office. For many years, 
 too, he was a teacher in the .Sunday-school and 
 chorister of the church. During their resi- 
 dence in Ashland Mrs. Mead also was a 
 teacher. Throughout his long and useful life 
 the Doctor has been a promoter of e\'er)' good 
 and philanthropic cause, and has been actively 
 interested in every effort to promote the well- 
 be in"; of his fellows. 
 
 OHN ROSSMAN, M.D., a prominent 
 physician of Schoharie Count}' and a 
 resident of Middleburg, was born in 
 the town of Fulton on March 8, 1S47, his 
 parents being George and Marietta (Beard) 
 Rossman. His first ancestors in this country 
 came from Germany, and were among the early 
 settlers of Columbia County, Yew York. His 
 grandfather, whose name was Christopher, was 
 born in that county, and li\'ed there iluring 
 early life. ]5efore the birth of his son George, 
 Christopher Rossman removed to Schoharie 
 County and settled in Summit, where he 
 passed the remainder of his life. In politics 
 he was a Republican, and both he and his wife 
 were members of the Methodist church. Mrs. 
 Rossman, whose maiden name was Lana 
 
r.IOr. liAPII ICAI, RK\- 1 E\V 
 
 Mickel, wns born in Schoharie of an old fam- 
 ily. She was the mother of fourteen children, 
 all of whom grew to maturity. They were 
 named as follows: George, Mary, John, l^etsy, 
 William, Christina, Nathaniel, Phoebe, David, 
 Lucy, ("harles, Huldah, Jane, and Cassie. 
 
 Dr. Rossman's father was born in Summit, 
 received his education in the common scliools 
 there, and subsequentl\' remoNcd to h'ultDn, 
 where he bought a farm and resitted until his 
 death, at the age of forty-seven. Politically, 
 George Kossman was at first a Republican and 
 later a Democrat. For twenty-two years he 
 served as a Justice of the Peace. He was 
 twice married. His first wife. Marietta, who 
 died when their sun John was four years of age, 
 was born in Riclmidndville. She was a daugh- 
 ter of Jacob Heard, and one of a family nf four 
 cliildren. Her father was a farmer of that 
 town, and subsequently of Fulton. Late in 
 life he removed to Geneseo County, where he 
 died at the advanced age of ninety. Mrs. 
 Marietta H. Rossman was the muther of two 
 children. Her daughter, Louise, is deceased. 
 The second wife of George Kossman was before 
 her marriage Marcia Holmes. She also was 
 boiii in P'ulton, of one of the old families. 
 She died at the age of forty. 
 
 John Kossman in his bo\hood and youth se- 
 cured a good common-school education in the 
 public schools, which he attendeil both sununer 
 and winter. In 1865 he began to read medi- 
 cine with Dr. J. D. Wheeler, of Middlebnrg, 
 and in I S6S he was graduated at the Philadel- 
 |)hia University of Medicine and .Surgerw He 
 began practising with Dr. Wheeler, but at the 
 
 end of a )ear went to West Fulton and started 
 an independent practice. Three years later he 
 returned and again engaged with his former 
 partner, but after a year of joint work tlie two 
 doctors severed their connection, and since 
 then Dr. Rossman has workeil alone. He has 
 built up a large general practice, and is now 
 the oldest physician in town in jioiiit of 
 service. 
 
 The Doctor married his first wife, Mary, 
 the daughter of Cornelius IJouck, in 1869. 
 .She died at the age of twenty eight, lea\ing 
 three children — Marietta, Anna A., and 
 Charles H. Marietta married M. J. V'roman, 
 antl is the mother of three children — Cecil, 
 Lena, and Marguerite. Anna is the wife of 
 Di". .Simpkins of this town. Charles married 
 Agnes McLean, anil has one child, Marion, by 
 name. The Doctor's second wife, whose 
 maiden name was Lizzie ]5. Smith, is a native 
 of Middleburg, and the daughter of Silas 
 Smith. She is a member of the Fpiscojial 
 church, but an attendant of the Reformed 
 churcli. 
 
 I'or the past fifteen years Dr. Rossman has 
 been Health Officer of the town, holding his 
 office by annual le-elections. He is an acti\e 
 and influential member of the Schoharie Medi- 
 cal .Society, and was .secretary of the ]5oard of 
 Pension L.xaminers for the county. He is a 
 Democrat, but never an office-seeker; in fact, 
 he has never been willing to accept luiblic 
 office, except in cases where it has seemed 
 ])lainl\- his duty to do .so. He is a member of 
 Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, V. & A. M. ; of 
 John L. Lewis Chapter, No. 229; of .St. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 George's Commandery, No. ^y ; La Bastile 
 Lodge, No. 494, I. O. O. F. ; and Middlebiirg 
 lilncampment, No. 129. In the Blue Lodge he 
 has held all the offices, hax'ing been Master for 
 two years, and secretary and Junior Warden for 
 the same length of time each. He is Past 
 Noble Grand of the Subordinate Lodge of this 
 district, and Past Chief Patriarch of the En- 
 campment, and was District Deput}' for two 
 years. For seven years he has been president 
 of the Middlcburg Cemetery Organization. 
 
 r^YLVESTER B. SAGE, of Cat.skill, 
 
 ^/^ dealer in carriages and harnesses, 
 and present member of the New 
 York Assembly from Greene County, was 
 born in Prattsville on September 8, 1S36, son 
 of Hart C. and Clarissa H. (Van Luven) Sage. 
 
 The founder of the Sage family in America 
 is said to have been David Sage, who came to 
 New England in 1652, and .settled at Middle- 
 town, Conn., where he died in 1703, aged 
 sixty-four years. 
 
 David Sage of a later generation, grand- 
 father of Mr. Sage, of Catskill, was one of the 
 early settlers of Broome, Schoharie County, 
 N.Y., and resided on a farm there throughout 
 the greater part of his life. 
 
 Hart C. Sage, son of the second David here 
 mentioned, was brought up on the farm in 
 I'roome, but after his marriage came to Cat- 
 skill. Here he remained two years engaged 
 in mercantile business, and at the end of that 
 time went to Prattsville, where he carried on 
 a store. He died at the age of thirty-si.v. In 
 
 early life he taught school for several terms. 
 He w-as prominent among the Odd Fellows, 
 and after he went to Prattsville he built a hall 
 there for the organization. He was a member 
 of the Presbyterian church, and conformed his 
 daily life and walk to his professed beliefs. 
 His wife, Clarissa, who shared his religious 
 faith, was ])orn in Broome. She w-as a de- 
 scendant of one of the early settlers there, and 
 one of a large family of children. She died at 
 seventy, having been the motlier of five chil- 
 dren, namely: Osmar C, who is now deceased; 
 Omar V.; Sylvester B. ; H. Clarence; and 
 Hart C. , Jr., al.so deceased. Omar V. Sage 
 is a well-known public man. He was Clerk 
 of Greene County for two terms, and member 
 of the New York Assembly two terms, and for 
 the past five years he has held the imp(.)rtant 
 position of Warden of Sing Sing Prison. H. 
 Clarence Sage is a professor of music, residing 
 in New York City. 
 
 Sylvester B. Sage when a lad of ele\'en years 
 lost his father, and at a very early age he w^as 
 obliged to shift for himself. After working in 
 Prattsville for a time as clerk in a store, he 
 was in business there down to 1869. He then 
 sold out his trade and stock and came to Cat- 
 skill, and for eleven years, from 1869 to 1880, 
 conducted a grocery here. In 1880 he received 
 an appointment as under sheriff, and this office 
 he filled in an entirely acceptable manner for 
 three years. At the end of that time he 
 opened his present business, which has since 
 proved to be such a success. In his extensive 
 warerooms on Main Street are to be found 
 vehicles of all kinds, harnesses, whijis, and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 general horse and carriage furnishings. He 
 docs a larger business in this line than any 
 other firm between .\li)any and \'e\v Yori<. 
 He makes niaii}- of tlie harnesses he carries in 
 stock, and sells many at wholesale, keeping 
 five harness-makers employed the entire year. 
 All wagons and carriages to he found in his 
 repository are built by the best manufacturers. 
 He employ's fourteen men in the store, and 
 sells at both wholesale anil retail. He is 
 among the oldest business men mi the street, 
 and, with two or three exceptions, the oldest 
 in the to\\>n. 
 
 In politics Mr. Sage is a Democrat. He 
 held the office of Town Collector for a year, 
 and that of Police Justice for si.\ years, antl 
 was then apjjointed Under Sheriff. He has 
 also been on the 15<iard of lulucation se\eral 
 years, and was clerk of the board during the 
 greater part of his jieriod of membership. In 
 1897 he was elected to the Assembly, receiv- 
 ing three thousand, eight hundred and si.vteen 
 votes, against three thousand, four bundled and 
 fift)-three for Jdhn B. Logendyke. During 
 that year he was a member of the Committees 
 on Internal Affairs and Villages. In 1898 he 
 was again elected to the Assembly, against 
 D. G. Green, of Co.xsackie, and is now serving 
 on the Connnittees on (ieneral Laws and Re- 
 \ision, the two best in the House. 
 
 Mr. Sage marrietl, in 18C1, Alice, daughter 
 of Darius W. Smith, proprietor of a sale stable 
 in 24th .Street, New York. Of this imion two 
 children have been born — P'rancis \'. and 
 Clarence B. The latter is in business with 
 bis father. Mr. Safe's business is located in 
 
 one of the handsomest blocks in Catskill, and 
 his residence, purchased in 1872, occupies one 
 of the most sightly spots in the town. 
 
 Mr. Sage is a member of Catskill Lodge, 
 No. 468, having joined man)- \ears ago. He 
 held the office of Clerk for a long time, but has 
 declined all other offices. He is at the present 
 time vice-president of the Catskill Driving 
 Park Association, and president of the Moun- 
 tain Dew Krewery, and a director in both or- 
 ganizations; also a member of the li.xecutive 
 Committee of the Retail Carriage Dealers' 
 Protective Association, which is a national or- 
 ganization. In 1895 he was ]iresident of the 
 association. Mr. .Sage and his family are all 
 members of the Presbyterian chinch. He is 
 one of Catskill's most ]irogressi\e and most 
 highly respected citizens. 
 
 HARLES !•:. WEI DM AN, M.D., 
 
 the well-known medical practitioner of 
 
 Galluinille, in the town (il Wright, 
 his native jdace, was born on November 8, 
 1870, his parents being Daniel and Louisa 
 (\'roman) Weidman. His grandfather, Peter 
 I. Weidman, who was l)orn in Middleburg, 
 was a farmer by occu[)ation, and there spent 
 the early part of liis active life. Later he 
 li\'ed in the town of New Scotland for ten 
 years, and at the end of that time came to 
 Wright, where he died at the age of seventy- 
 five. Peter I. Weiihnan's wife, the Doctor's 
 giandnidther, Etlith Houghtaling, a native of 
 New Scotland, Albany Count)', is still living 
 on the old farm. All her life she has been 
 
CHARLES E. WEIOTNTAN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 225 
 
 a devoted member of the Lutheran church. Of 
 the five children born to her, only one is living. 
 
 Daniel Weidman, son of Peter I., was reared 
 on a farm, and received his education in the 
 common schools. He spent the later years of 
 his life on the old homestead, his death occur- 
 ring at the age of fifty-two. In politics he 
 was a stanch Republican, as his father before 
 him had been. He was a leading agriculturist 
 of his town and an acti\e member of the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 Dr. Weidman 's mother, who was the daugh- 
 ter of Albert Vroman and one of a family of 
 eleven children, was born in 1846, in the town 
 of Guilderland, in Albany Count}', this State. 
 Her father was a speculator in farm produce. 
 Ller mother, whose maiden name was Van 
 Aurnuni, is still li\ing. Besides the Doctor, 
 Mrs. Weidman had two children, namely: Aus- 
 tin J. ; and Edith, who is the wife of Charles 
 S. Young. Mrs. Weidman died in 1889 at 
 the age of forty-three. Both parents were 
 memlxM's of the Lutheran church, and the 
 father had held the office of Deacon as well 
 as others of less importance. 
 
 The boyhood of Dr. Weidman was spent on 
 the home farm. He attended the common 
 schools and Hartwick Seminary, graduating 
 from the last-named institution in i8gi. 
 Subsequent to this he taught school in Gal- 
 lupville for two years. He pursued the stud)- 
 of medicine in the Albany Medical College, 
 was graduated in 1S95, and since that time 
 has been located here. He has demonstrated 
 his fitness for the profession in which he has 
 engaged, and has iniilt up a flnurishing prac- 
 
 tice, his ability being recognized by all who 
 have had occasion to call upon him. Al- 
 though he has been here but a comparatively 
 short time, he has won many friends profes- 
 sionally; and his services are in recpiisition, 
 not only in the village, but also in the outly- 
 ing districts. 
 
 Dr. Weidman was married in the fall of 
 1896 to Minnetta C. Barringer, who was born 
 in Germantown, Columbia County. She is the 
 daughter of John I. Barringer, a druggist of 
 Hudson, formerly of Germantown, and one 
 of a family of three children. In jjolitics, the 
 Doctor is a Republican. He has served on 
 the town Republican committee, and has been 
 candidate for Coroner. He has held a number 
 of offices on the election board, among tliese 
 being that of ballot clerk. In 1 89S he was 
 elected Supervisor of the town of Wright, and 
 in 1899 ^'^'^s re-elected for two \ears. Profes- 
 sionally, he is a member of the Schoharie 
 County Medical Society. He is a member of 
 Orion Lodge, No. 624, Independent Order of 
 Odd P'ellows; is Past Gi'and, and has been 
 through all the other chairs. Mrs. Weidman 
 is a member of the Presbyterian Church of 
 Waterford. 
 
 ,0B1{RT ELLIOTT, whose death oc- 
 curred on January 6, 1899, was for 
 many years a representative citizen 
 of Hunter, N. Y., being well known in the 
 third quarter of the century as a general mer- 
 chant, and later as the builder and proprietoi' 
 of the Kaatsberg. He was of Scotch-Irish 
 [larentagc, and was born on June 24, 1S22, in 
 
226 
 
 BIOGRAI'IIICAI, RKVIF.W 
 
 Irelant], where his fathei', whose name was 
 Thomas, spent his entire lite engaged in agri- 
 culture. 
 
 Thomas Elliott and his family were stanch 
 niemliers of the Presbyterian church, and he 
 was an l^lder for many years. lie lived to be 
 eighty )ears old. His vvife, Jane McLane 
 Elliott, was of Scotch liescent, and one of a 
 large family. She was the mother of the fol- 
 lowing-named children: Robert; John, who 
 lives in Kansas; Thomas, Jr., also in Kansas; 
 Samuel, Harriet, and James, all three de- 
 ceased; Helena and Jane, who are li\'ing in 
 Ireland; and Adam, who went to Australia. 
 James Elliott was educated f(jr the Presbyte- 
 rian ministry at Belfast. He subsequently 
 taught in Canada. 
 
 Robert I'^lliott inherited from his parents 
 those sterling c[ualities which e\'er character- 
 ized his dealings, and which were such potent 
 factors in shaping his successful business 
 career. He was educated in the national 
 schools of Ireland. At the early age of eight- 
 teen years he took the place of a professor in 
 one of those schools, and performed the duties 
 of the position for six montlis in a high!)- cred- 
 itable manner. At the cnil of that time he set 
 sail for America. He soon obtained a posi- 
 tion in a tannery, and after a short time he 
 entered the employ of Mr. lulwards, wlio he- 
 longed to the ]irominent llnnter famil}' of llial 
 name, and who was descended from the Jona- 
 than Edwards family of Massachusetts. Mr. 
 Elliott ke])t books for Mr. Edwards until that 
 gentleman died, and he then entered the em- 
 plo}' of his brother, Colonel William W. 
 
 Edwards, with whom he came to this town in 
 1848. Colonel Edwards carried on a large 
 tannery here, and Mr. Elliott had charge of 
 the accounts of the concern until his enijjloyer 
 went out of business. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. I'^lliott opened a general store, 
 and foi- the next t\vent)-five years he conducted 
 a large antl successful business. At the end of 
 that time he sold out, and later bought the lot 
 upon which he erected the beautiful Kaatsberg. 
 This fine house he built in 1883 — the finest 
 house in Iluntei- village. He ran this as a 
 summer boardingdiouse up to 1897, when he 
 gave up the management to his son, Robert G. 
 Elliott. All built under Mr. Elliott's super- 
 vision, it is a monument to his thoroughness 
 and is admired by every one. 
 
 Ill 1855 Mr. Elliott married Mary A. Cald- 
 well, a lady of Canadian birth. Of the six 
 cliildren born of this union, four are living-; 
 namely, Helena, Elmore V.., Clara, and Ro- 
 bert G. Elmore E. , who is a piominent ph\- 
 sician in Catskill, married l\Iabel .Sanderson, 
 a daughter of Judge Sanderson, of Catskill, 
 and has two sons — John .Sanderson and Robert 
 Caldwell. Clara resides with her mother. 
 Helena is the wife of Dr. C. P. McCabe, of 
 Greenville. Of her tliree children one is liv- 
 ing, a daughter Dorothy. 
 
 I'RI'.MEMl DUXCKh:!., who resides on 
 /^l his farm in the town of .Seward, about 
 a mile from the \-illage of Ilyndsville 
 in .Schoharie County, is living retired from 
 acti\e pursuits, enjo}ing the fruits of his ear- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 227 
 
 lier years of toil. He was born April 7, 
 1 82 1, in Canajoharie, N. Y. , a son of George 
 G. Dunckel, and -the descendant of a pioneer 
 settler of that town. 
 
 His <;reat-grandfather, Dunckel, whose name 
 was Peter, emigrated from Germany in Colo- 
 nial times. Peter Dunckel ttiok up a large 
 tract of unbroken land in Canajoharie, and, 
 erecting a small log cabin in the woods, settled 
 there with his wife and children. He was an 
 industrious, hard-working man, and while 
 clearing a farm for himself he assisted in the 
 upbuilding of the town. His son George, who 
 was the grandfather of Jeremiah Dunckel, the 
 subject of this brief sketch, enlisted as a sol- 
 dier in the Revolutionary army, and at the 
 battle of Cedar Swamp was unfortunate enough 
 to lose an eye. 
 
 George Dunckel was born in Germany, and 
 spent the first ten years of his life in the 
 Fatherland. Coming then to New York with 
 his parents, he performed his full .share of the 
 pioneer labor of redeeming a homestead from 
 the forest. When, on the death of his father, 
 the farm came into his possession, he continued 
 the improvements already begun; and prior to 
 his death, which occurred at the age of eigbty- 
 four years, he had a fine set of frame buildings 
 on the place, which was one of the best in its 
 appointments of any in the neighborhood. 
 Six children were born to him and his wife, 
 Elizabeth Countryman. She, too, lived to an 
 advanced age. Both were active members of 
 the Lutheran church. 
 
 George G. Dunckel, son of George, grew to 
 manhood on the ancestral farm in Canajoharie, 
 
 where from his youth up he was familiar with 
 its daily labors. He subseciuently became sole 
 owner of the homestead property, and was there 
 prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 until 184S. Selling out at that time, he came 
 to Seward, and, having purchased the farm now 
 owned and occupied by his son Jeremiah, he 
 carried it on until his decease, at the ase of 
 seventy-seven years. A man of energy and in- 
 telligence, he was a valued member of the 
 Democratic party, and for a number of terms 
 served wisely as Assessor and Highway Com- 
 missioner. He was a Methodist in his relis- 
 ions belief, and an active member of the 
 church of that denomination. He married 
 Maria Cook, daughter of John R. Cook, a 
 farmer and blacksmith of Canajoharie. They 
 had a family of eleven children, three of whom 
 are now living, namely: Jeremiah, the fifth- 
 born; Levi, who lives at Central Bridge; and 
 Sophronia, widow of Austin Lory, late of 
 Hyndsville. 
 
 Jeremiah Dunckel obtained his early educa- 
 tion in the common schools, and under the in- 
 struction of his father became well versed in 
 farming pursuits. When the family came to 
 Seward he accompanied them, and, remaining 
 an inmate of the household, assisted in the 
 management of the new farm. This valuable 
 estate of two hundred acres he now holds in 
 his own name, having purchased the interest 
 of the remaining heirs. In its care he has 
 shown excellent judgment and skill. He has 
 carried on general farming to advantage, devot- 
 ing a part of the land to raising hops, a profita- 
 ble crop in this section of the State, and has 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 also met with success as a dairymnii. lie has 
 sometimes had as many as forty cows in his 
 herd, and his butter has always met with a 
 ready sale. Of recent years he has relegated 
 the management of the estate to his eldest son, 
 Lucius Dunckel. 
 
 On October 5, 1843, Mr. Dunckel married 
 Lana A., daughter of Sylvanus Nestle, a well- 
 known tailor of Sprout Brook, N. Y. She died 
 at the age of sixty-one years, having borne him 
 four children. Of these two are dead, nameh' : 
 Esther, who married Anson Ifynds; and Helen 
 M., who married Irving Schoolcraft. The two 
 now li\ing. are Lucius and George. Lucius, 
 born April 6, 1846, has spent his life on the 
 home farm, of which he has had full charge 
 since 1S82. He is a Democrat in [lolitics 
 and has served as school trustee. In iSfjghe 
 marricfl Adelaide Lory, daughter of John 
 Lory, of Seward. They have one child, Lottie 
 Ann, who married Clark Bouton, Postmaster 
 and merchant at Hyndsville, and has two chil- 
 dren — Edna Belle and J. I.eroy. George, a 
 resident of Cobleskill, married Angerilla I-'alk. 
 They had five children: Jerry; Ann; Una and 
 Ula, twins; and Oscar, who ilied at the age of 
 nineteen years. After the death of his first 
 wife, Mr. Dunckel married Henrietta Young, 
 who was born in Seward township, where her 
 father, Jeremiah Young, a farmer of Seward 
 township, but a native of Onondaga County, 
 died aged seventy years. Her mother, whose 
 maiden name was Caroline E. Weatherwa.x, 
 was born in Rensselaer County. She died in 
 1892, aged eighty-one years, leaving seven 
 children out of a family of ten born to her and 
 
 her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Young were 
 members of the Lutheran church. 
 
 Mr. Dunckel is a stanch Jcffcrsonian Demo- 
 crat, dyed in the wool. He has taken an ac- 
 tive interest in advancing the welfare of the 
 town and county, but has invariably refused 
 ]iublic office, although he has served as trustee 
 of the School Board. He was one of the orig- 
 inators of the Cobleskill Agricultural Society, 
 and has been among its most active and valued 
 members. Mrs. Dunckel is a member oi the 
 Methodist clunxli. 
 
 "s^YAMES B. DALEY, of Prattsville, at- 
 torney -at- law and a Civil War vet- 
 eran, was born in Ohio, townshi|i of 
 Richfield, March 7, 1845, son of Daniel and 
 Mary Ann (Champlin) Daley. His paternal 
 grandfather, Joseph Daley, and his great- 
 grandfather, Obadiah Daley, were lifelong 
 residents of Columbia County, New York, 
 and the latter was the son of Joseph Daley, 
 first, who came from New England to Chat- 
 ham, N. Y., where he cleared a farm. Josejih 
 Daley, second, Mr. Daley's grandfather, was 
 a prosperous farmer, and noted for his physi- 
 cal strength and power of endurance. He 
 married Hannah Son. Her father was an 
 early settler in Columbia County, and she in- 
 herited a part of the Son farm. The grand- 
 parents died at the age of eighty years. They 
 reared a large family of children, and none 
 are now living 
 
 Daniel Daley, James B. Daley's father, fol- 
 lowed the blacksmith's trade in Chatham for 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 229 
 
 a time, and moving from there to Lebanon 
 Springs, N. Y., iie carried on the wagon-mak- 
 ing business for some years, finally retiring 
 to a farm in Chatham, where he died at the 
 age of seventy-seven. He was widely known 
 among Odd Fellows, having been a member of 
 that order for many years; and he also had a 
 large number of friends and acquaintances 
 outside of that fraternity. His wife, Mary 
 Ann, was born in Chatham, daughter of Will- 
 iam and Mary (Kenyon) Champlin. Her 
 father, who came to this State from Rhode 
 Island, taught school in New York City prior 
 to settling upon a farm in the town of Chat- 
 ham. He had a family of six children. 
 Daniel and Mary Ann Daley were the parents 
 of ten children, si.\ of whom are living; 
 namely, William C. , George, James B., 
 Henry, Sarah, and Charles. William C. and 
 George Daley are practising law in Chatham, 
 and a sketch of each will be found in the Bio- 
 GR.\PHic.\L Review of Columbia County. 
 James B. is the subject of this sketch; Henry 
 is a lawyer residing in Coxsackie, N.Y. ; 
 Sarah is the widow of Nathan C. Hagerborn, 
 late of Stillbrook, N.Y. ; and Charles is 
 residing at the homestead in Chatham. 
 The mother died at the age of seventy- 
 two years. The parents were ]5aptists. 
 They, were highly esteemed for their m.any 
 excellent qualities, and obituary notices 
 of each were published in the county news- 
 papers. 
 
 Having supplemented his common-school 
 studies with a course at the Lebanon Springs 
 Academy, James B. Daley turned his atten- 
 
 tion to educational pursuits, teaching schools 
 in Columbia and Rensselaer Counties, New 
 York, and in Berkshire County, Massachu- 
 setts. His law studies were pursued in the 
 office of his brother George, and after his ad- 
 mission to the bar in 1872, he began the prac- 
 tice of his profession in Prattsville. In the 
 spring of 1873 he returned to Chatham, where 
 he was in business one year, at the end of 
 which time he removed to Windham, Greene 
 County, and for the succeeding eight years 
 was a member of the firm of Daley & Tal- 
 madge, who transacted an extensive general 
 law and real estate business. After the dis- 
 solution of that partnership he once more re- 
 turned to Prattsville, where he has practised 
 continuously to the present time. His Civil 
 War services were performed in Company B, 
 Ninety-first Regiment, New York Volunteers, 
 with which he participated in a number of en- 
 gagements, including the battle of Five 
 Forks; and he witnessed the surrender of 
 General Lee at Appomattox Court House. 
 
 In June, 1S78, Mr. Daley was united in 
 marriage with Lucy Tyler, who was born in 
 Roxbury, Delaware County, daughter of Henry 
 and Deborah (Hull) Tyler. Her father was 
 a wealthy farmer. He eventually removed 
 from Roxbury, his native town, to Pratts- 
 ville, where he spent the rest of his life. 
 Henry Tyler died at seventy-three, and his 
 wife died at seventy. They reared three chil- 
 dren: Lorinda, who married John Erkson, a 
 leading merchant of Prattsville; Lucy, who 
 married Mr. Daley; and Annie, who married 
 Homer B. Van Cott, of Norwich, N.Y. Mrs. 
 
23° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Daley was a graduate of the I'ort Edwards 
 Institute, and prior to her marriage she taught 
 music at the institute in EUenville. She 
 died in 1S96, aged forty-six years. As a 
 member of the Methodist liipiscopul church 
 she took an active interest in religious work, 
 and was sincerely respected for her estimable 
 character and rare intellectual qualities. She 
 left four children; namely, Mamie, lunma, 
 Ethel, and James, aged respectively si.xteen, 
 fourteen, twelve, and ten years. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Daley is a Republican. 
 He has served with ability as a trustee of the 
 village and of the Cemetery Association for a 
 number of years, and acts as a notary public. 
 His literary talents are highly appreciated in 
 I'rattsville and vicinity, and his frequent con- 
 triiiutions to the various county papers upon 
 different subjects are widely read. His more 
 notable writings are: a series of articles de- 
 scribing his war experience, published in the 
 Catskill Exaviincr ; another series devoted to 
 Western life, printed in the Hunter Pliamix, 
 and a number of articles upon legal sid^jects, 
 which have been bountl with the law journal 
 for preservation. Mr. Daley attends the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 "ON. JOHN A. (iRISWOLD, of Cats- 
 kill, N. Y., e.x-Congressman and 
 former Judge and Surrogate of 
 Greene County, was born in Cairo, tiiis 
 county, November iS, 1822, son of Stephen 
 II. and I'hcebe (Ashley) Criswold. He is a 
 representative of the GriswuUI family ot Con- 
 
 necticut, an account of whom ajipeared in tlie 
 ]\[agazinc of American History in 1S84. His 
 father was born in Greene County, New 
 York, February 26, 1793; and his grandfather, 
 Jeremiah Griswold, came to Catskill from 
 Connecticut about the _\ ear 1800, accompanied 
 by his family. 
 
 Jeremiah (iriswold, who was a prosperous 
 farmer, lived to an advanced age. He married 
 Mary Hill, whose birth took jilace either in 
 Massachusetts or Connecticut in December, 
 1753. She served the patricjt cause during the 
 Re\iilut iimary War b\' making cartridges for 
 her brothers. She dieil December 8, 1841. 
 
 Stephen II. (iriswold, Judge Griswold's 
 father, studied law, but did not enter into 
 practice, preferring instead to engage in agri- 
 cultural ]>ursuits. He owned a good farm in 
 Cairo, where he resided until his death, whicli 
 occurred June 14, 1844. As a stanch sujiporter 
 of the Democratic party he took an active in- 
 terest in the political affairs of his day, and 
 was universall)' esteemed for his upright char- 
 acter. He was a Free Mason, and in his 
 younger days ■ was identified with the local 
 Hlue I-odge. He and his wife, Phcx^be, were 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 Mrs. Griswold was a native of Cat.skill, where 
 her father, John .Asiiley, was an industrious 
 farmer. She became the mother of ten chil- 
 ilren, five of whom are living, namely: John 
 A., the subject of this sketch; Miles, who re- 
 sides in one of the Western States; Addison, 
 a well-known law)-er of Catskill ; Alonzo, who 
 is residing <jn a farm in Jesuji, la. ; and Mar- 
 ion, who is a banker in Ohio. The others 
 
JOHN A. GRISWOLD. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 233 
 
 were: Mary, Stephen, luiiily, Jerome, and 
 Mahala. Stephen, who entered the Union 
 army as a surgeon early in the Civil War, was 
 captured by the enemy at the first battle of 
 Bull Riu), and died in prison. Jerome, who 
 was a druggist in Kansas, was i<illed by Con- 
 federate raiders under Ouantrell. Judge Gris- 
 wold's mother died June 13, 1^77, aged 
 seventy-two years. 
 
 Having pursued his preliminary studies in 
 the public schools, John A. Griswold became 
 a pupil at the academies in Prattsville and 
 Catskill, concluding his attendance at the lat- 
 ter at the age of sixteen. After teaching for 
 a time, he applied himself to the study of law 
 with his uncle, Addison C. Griswold, and 
 Richard Corning, the latter a brother of Eras- 
 tus Corning, of Albany. Subsequently he 
 continued his prejiarations in Syracuse, N.Y. , 
 and was admitted to the bar as an attorney and 
 counsellor of the State in 1848. Commencing 
 the practice of his profession alone, he was 
 later associated with Addison Griswold until 
 elected District Attorney in 1857, and afterward 
 he was for some time in company with Rufus 
 W. Watson. He ably performed the duties of 
 District Attorney for three years, winning in 
 that capacity a high reputation; and his able 
 handling of several important cases, both as a 
 public and private practitioner, caused his ele- 
 vation in 1864 to the position of Judge and 
 Surrogate of Greene County. His four years' 
 service upon the bench was extremely credita- 
 ble to himself as well as beneficial to the com- 
 niunit}-; and in 1868 he was elected to a seat 
 in Congress by the Democratic party, defeat- 
 
 ing Thomas Cornell, of Rondout, by a major- 
 ity of five hundred votes. His work in the 
 national House of Representatives was charac- 
 terized by a thorough understanding of the 
 principles of federal government and a clear 
 conception of the many important questions 
 submitted for legislation; and, when a conven- 
 tion was decided upon for the purpose of revis- 
 ing the Constitution of the State of New York, 
 he was again called into service as a delegate 
 from his district. In 1876 he was a delegate 
 to the National Con\-ention which nominated 
 Samuel J. Tilden for President. He has also 
 rendered his share of service in town affairs, 
 serving as a Supervisor in 1872; and his inter- 
 est in the welfare of the community in which 
 he lives was not eclipsed by the higher 
 public duties to which he has been called. 
 
 In 1857 Judge Griswold married Miss Eliza- 
 beth M. Roberts, a daughter of the late Will- 
 iam Roberts, who was a prosperous farmer of 
 Cliftondale, Ulster County, this State. Mrs. 
 Grisw^old died No\-ember 8, 1896, aged sixty- 
 six years. Judge Griswold resides in what is 
 known as the Cornwall house, situated on an 
 estate commanding a view for twenty miles 
 around of the varied and picturesque scenery 
 for which the Catskill region is noted. He 
 has survived all of his former legal contempo- 
 raries in this section, but is still upon the 
 acti\-c list; and, if not as young in years as his 
 personal appearance would indicate, his mental 
 capacity retains its accustomed vigor, and his 
 strong, manly character is as much appreciated 
 to-day as it was during the period of his public 
 services. He is a Master Mason, and was for- 
 
234 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 merly a member of the Catskill Lodge, No. 
 46S. In his religious belief he is an Epis- 
 copalian. 
 
 ILLARD T. RIVENBURG, M.D., 
 
 a well-known medical practitioner 
 of Midilleburg, N.Y., was born in the village 
 of Chatham in Ghent, Columbia County, this 
 State, on November 25, 1S63, son of J. Mor- 
 gan and Charlotte (Tipple) Rivenburg. As 
 his name indicates, he is of Dutch ancestry, 
 although his family has Ijcen settled in New 
 York for many years. 
 
 His grandfather, Henry Rivenburg, was 
 born in Columbia County, and there spent his 
 entire life. He helped in clearing a part of 
 the farm which he occupied and carried on. 
 The Doctor's father was an agriculturist, and 
 was a man highly respected in his town. He 
 was killed by the cars at the age of thirty- 
 seven. His wife, who was born in Otsego 
 Comity, was descendeil from Revolutionary 
 stock. She was also related to Walter Gunn, 
 who with his wife was in the mission field in 
 huiia, under the auspices of the Lutheran 
 church. 15oth parents were members of the 
 Reformed church at Ghent. Of tlieir three 
 children, two grew to maturity. These are 
 the Doctor and John Rivenburg, Superintend- 
 ent of Poor for Columbia County and a coal 
 dealer at Ghent. 
 
 Dr. Rivenburg was educated at the Hoys' 
 Academy, Troy, the South Berkshire Insti- 
 tute, Mass., and the University of Buffalo, 
 from the last named of which he received the 
 degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1S85. 
 
 While in college he was president of the 
 Alpha Omega Delta Society, and his society 
 sheepskin bears his own official signature as 
 such. He was the founder of the college so- 
 ciety known as the "Secret Seven." Dr. 
 Rivenburg first settled for practice at Blen- 
 heim, but after a short stay there he came, in 
 18S7, to Middleburg, where he has won a po- 
 sition of influence. He covers a wide area in 
 his professional visits, and receives calls for 
 consultation from physicians residing twenty- 
 five miles distant. 
 
 The Doctor was married on October 14, 
 icSgi, to Belle Stanton, a graduate of the Al- 
 bany Female Academy and a daughter of John 
 Stanton, who was a merchant, and later rail- 
 road station agent of this town. She was 
 born on the homstead of her grandmother, not 
 far from here, and is descended from one of 
 the oldest and most honored families in this 
 region. Among her ancestors was brave Gen- 
 eral James Dana, who was immortalized by 
 Washington in his first general order immedi- 
 ately following the battle of Banker Hill, 
 where Dana, then Captain, commanded a 
 company of the Connecticut line of Conti- 
 nental troops. 
 
 Dr. Riveni)urg is a jihysician of the county 
 almshouse. He has served as president and 
 vice-president of the Medical Society of Scho- 
 harie County, and is now medical examiner 
 for several well-known insurance companies, 
 chief of which are the Mutual Life of New 
 York, the North-western, the Penn, llie Brook- 
 lyn, the Nederland, the Manhattan, the 
 Bankers', and tiie United States Accident. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 235 
 
 In 1886 he took a post-graduate course at 
 the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 
 New York. He is a charter member of the 
 John M. Scribner Hook and Ladder Company, 
 and for five years was in active service, since 
 which time he has been on the reserve list. 
 Fraternally, he is Master of Middleburg Lodge, 
 No. 663, F. & A. M. ; and Past Sachem of 
 Oucongena Tribe, No. 240, I. O. R. M. He is 
 treasurer of the Village Corporation; also a 
 trustee of St. Mark's Plvangelical Lutheran 
 church, and assistant superintendent of the 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 M 
 
 ANIEL W. JP:NKINS, agent of the 
 D. & H. Railroad at Central 
 Bridge, Schoharie County, N. Y., 
 was born in Glen, Montgomery County, on 
 September 27, 1846, son of Nathaniel and 
 Eleanor (Shannon) Jenkins. His great- 
 grandfather Jenkins, who was a Welshman by 
 birth, came to this country and settled on 
 Long Island, where he died. At the time the 
 British invaded the island he was made a pris- 
 oner of war. After the close of the Revolu- 
 tion the family removed to Duanesburg, Sche- 
 nectady County, this State. William, one of 
 the sons and grandfather of Daniel W. Jen- 
 kins, was born on Long Island, but spent the 
 last years of his life in Montgomery County, 
 where he died in old age. 
 
 Nathaniel Jenkins, son of William by his 
 second wife, was born in Montgomery. He 
 was reared on a farm, and received his educa- 
 tion in the public schools. He was one of a 
 
 large family of children, only two of whom 
 are now living, both physicians and promi- 
 nent in their professions — namely, Thomas, 
 residing at Vandalia, and George, at Kilbourn 
 City, Wis. Nathaniel was very successful in 
 his farming, and was highly respected by all 
 who knew him. He died at the age of eighty- 
 two. His wife, Eleanor, who died at the age 
 of eighty, was born in Prattsville. Both were 
 members of the Society of Friends. 
 
 Daniel W. Jenkins received a practical 
 common-school education, and on September 
 I 5, 1863, at the age of seventeen years, entered 
 the employ of the Albany & Susquehanna 
 Railroad Company. This road has since be- 
 come a part of the D. & H. C. Company sys- 
 tem. Mr. Jenkins's father was agent at 
 Quaker Street (now Delanson), and at that 
 time the equipments of the ticket office were 
 carried in a tin box, and the way bills were 
 made out on a board that was set up in 
 the embankment. The road then ended at the 
 Schoharie Creek, near the present Schoharie 
 Junction. Mr. Jenkins has since seen it ad- 
 vanced all the distance to Binghamton. There 
 was only one train per day, as against fifty 
 per day at the present time, and most of the 
 modern improvements have been added since 
 then. Mr. Jenkins succeeded his father as 
 agent at Quaker Street, and in 1868 became 
 the agent at Central Bridge, where he has 
 since remained. He has now two assistants. 
 He is the youngest of seven children, the 
 others being: De Witt C, at Syracuse; Zerah 
 and William A., at Delanson; Mrs. Lottie 
 Christman, of Iowa; Mrs. Colonel Coryell, 
 
236 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 whose husband is an cx-paymastcr of the 
 D. & H. Road; and Mrs. M. S. Hoag, of Al- 
 bany. In addition to his duties as station 
 agent, Mr. Jenkins does a large business in 
 hamlling coal, lumber, hay, and straw. 
 
 As a business man Mr. Jenkins is known as 
 a "hustler." Whatever he finds to do he 
 does witli all his might, and, as a rule, suc- 
 cessfully. Recognizing iiis su|)erior business 
 tpialifications, the ]5oard of Trustees of the 
 Schoharie County Agricultural Society elected 
 him president of the society, which position 
 he has held for the past eight or ten years. 
 As a representative of this organization he 
 has been one of the leading spirits in the 
 State organization of county societies, serving 
 on the E.xecutive Committee; and for the past 
 few years he has been vice-president of the so- 
 ciety, frequently visiting Albany during the 
 legislative sessions in the interests of agri- 
 cultural societies generally. 
 
 In politics Mr. Jenkins is a stanch Demo- 
 crat, and has frequently attended county and 
 State conventions as a representative of his 
 party. In the winter of 1889 he accepted the 
 nomination for Supervisor of the town of 
 Schoharie. At the succeeding town meeting 
 he was elected, and he has served tlie town 
 continuously since then as Supervisor, having 
 been elected three times without opposition. 
 He was chairman of the board for the years 
 1893, 1896, and 1897, and at the spring meet- 
 ing held May 2, 1899, was again honored by 
 being unanimously elected chairman for the 
 ensuing two years. As Supervisor he has 
 exerted a powerful influence. He was largely 
 
 instrumental in effecting a settlement of the 
 suits brought against the county by several 
 towns of the county (including the town of 
 Schoharie), when the law went into effect re- 
 quiring the amount raised by ta.xation of the 
 railroads in towns having a bonded railroad 
 debt to be deposited with the county treas- 
 urer as a sinking fund with which to meet the 
 bonds when due. In this settlement the town 
 of Schoharie received its full share — in fact, 
 more than she had reason to e.xpect. As a 
 member of the county board he has looked 
 carefully after the interests of the county, be- 
 lieving liberality without extravagance in the 
 care of county pro[)erty to be a benefit in the 
 long run, and firmly advocating the policy of 
 the county paying its debts instead of paying 
 interest on old claims. He is always fore- 
 most in any movement which contemplates 
 the interests of his town, and more than once 
 has contributed of his means for such a pur- 
 pose. 
 
 On September 9, 1869, Mr.' Jenkins was 
 united in marriage with Harriet L. Rosekrans, 
 daughter of Charles Rosekrans, of Jonesville, 
 Saratoga County. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins is identified with tlie order of 
 Masonry, being a thirty-second degree Mason; 
 and he has many social ties in Schoharie 
 County. He belongs to Schoharie Valley 
 Lodge, No. 491 ; John L. Lewis Chapter of 
 Cobleskill; Temple Commandery of Albany, 
 a noted commandery in the State; to De Witt 
 Clinton Council of Albany; and to Cypress 
 Temple of the Mystic Shrine, of the same 
 city. He is also a member of Wellington 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 237 
 
 Lodge, No. 731, L O. O. F., of Central 
 Bridge. He is an attendant and liberal sup- 
 porter of the Lutheran church. 
 
 T^HARLES FOWLER, proprietor of 
 I Jl the Fowler House, Prattsville, was 
 
 ^*- ' born in Lexington, Greene County, 
 
 N.Y., September 15, 1845, son of David S. 
 and Agnes (Muir) Fowler. 
 
 The Fowler family is of English origin. 
 There were several immigrants of this name 
 in New England in early Colonial times. It 
 is said that William Fowler, who arrived in 
 Boston in June, 1637, and the next year went 
 to New Haven, was the ancestor of most, if 
 not all, of the Fowlers, of Connecticut. 
 
 Silas Fowler, great-grandfather of Charles 
 Fowler, was a native of Connecticut. After 
 his marriage he came to New York .State, and 
 settling in I^exington, now Jewett, resided 
 there until his death, which occurred at the 
 age of eighty-four years. He was a Revolu- 
 tionary soldier from this State, and a memento 
 of his services in the shape of a flint-lock gun 
 taken by him at the battle of Bunker Hill is 
 now owned by his grandson, Addison Fowier, 
 of Lexington, N. Y. He reared a family of 
 eiglit children. 
 
 Silas Fowler, second, Charles Fowler's 
 grandfather, was three years old when his par- 
 ents moved to Lexington. He remained at the 
 homestead until after his marriage, when he 
 purchased a farm near by, and tilled the soil 
 industriously for the rest of his life. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Mc- 
 
 Lane, is a native of Livingston, N.Y., a 
 daughter of George McLane. Her father fol- 
 lowed the shoemaker's trade in connection 
 with farming. She became the mother of 
 nine children; namely, Charles, Rachel, 
 David S., Louise, Elizabeth, Minerva, Silas, 
 Addison, and Julia. Charles, Rachel, and 
 Silas are no longer living. Elizabeth mar- 
 ried Addison De Yoe. Minerva married 
 Henry Moore, of Milford, Michigan. Silas 
 Fowler, second, died at the age of seventy- 
 four years, and his wife lived to be ninety-six 
 years old. They were both members of the 
 Dutch Reformed church. 
 
 David S. Fowler, Charles Fowler's father, 
 was born in Lexington, February 24, 181 8. 
 Beginning life for himself upon a leased farm, 
 which he afterward purchased, he resided in 
 his native town until 1875. He then removed 
 to Prattsville, where he bought a farm and 
 carried it on for two years, at the end of 
 which time he retired and purchased a resi- 
 dence in the village where he is still living. 
 Mr. Fowler, who is unusually active, both 
 physically and mentally, for one of his years, 
 remembers when deer roamed fearlessly over 
 the town of Lexington. He has witnessed 
 the growth of Prattsville from a struggling 
 little settlement, and saw its founder, Colo- 
 nel Pratt, set out many of the shade trees that 
 now adorn its main thoroughfare. He was in 
 his younger days interested in military affairs, 
 serving as an officer in a local artillery com- 
 pany. He has a distinct recollection of the 
 days when slavery was permitted in tliis sec- 
 tion. Later he belonged to the famous 
 
238 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Know-Nothing party. He has voted the 
 straight Domocratic ticket for sixty years. 
 David S. Fowler contracted the first of his 
 two marriages in 1841 with Agnes Miiir, a 
 native of Scotland, who died in 1873; and for 
 his second wife he married Laura Goodsell, 
 whose ancestors came from Connecticut. He 
 is the father of three cliildren, all by his first 
 union; namely, Mary, Charles, and Agnes. 
 Mary married A. Bockwith, a prosperous 
 farmer of Lexington. They have one daugh- 
 ter, Ada, who is the wife of George Raeder, 
 antl has one son, Charles. Agnes married 
 Alonzo Johnson, of Lexington, and her chil- 
 dren are: Charles, May, and Willie. 
 
 Charles Fowler acquired a common-school 
 education in his native town. He was reared 
 to agricultural pursuits, and assisted his 
 father in carrying on the homestead farm until 
 the latter's removal to Prattsville, when he 
 took charge of the i)roperty which he managed 
 for five years, or until it was sold. Coming 
 to Prattsville in 1880, he in March of that 
 year bought a half-interest in the Prattsville 
 House, in the management of which he was 
 associated until July, i88j, when he sold out. 
 He immediately purchased his present prop- 
 erty, which, after repairing and refurnisliing, 
 he opened as the P'owler House. Here he has 
 ever since entertained the travelling public in 
 a most hospitable manner. The Prowler 
 House jjrovides ample accommotlations for 
 fifty guests. It occupies a sightly location 
 on the banks of Schoharie Creek, in a region 
 noted for its beautiful and varied scenery. 
 Its sanitary and other conveniences for the 
 
 health aiul comfort of its patrons are unsur- 
 passed, and a first-class livery stable con- 
 nected with the house affords excellent facili- 
 ties tor driving over the surrounding country. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Fowler was joined in marriage 
 with Mary Coggshall, of this town. She was 
 born in Rensselaerville, daughter of Asa and 
 Mary (Joyce) Coggshall, tlie former of whom 
 was a native of Gildcrlaml and a schoolmaster 
 by occupation. Asa antl Mary Coggshall had 
 a family of ten children, nine of whom are 
 living; namely, Harvey, George, Origen, 
 Sarah, Samuel, Asa, Mary, Julia, and Aletta. 
 Sarah married E. P. Churciiill, of Prattsville, 
 and Aletta married U wight Miller. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Prowler have one daughter, Edith, who 
 completed her education at the Stamford 
 Seminary. 
 
 In politics Mr. ]<"owler is a Democrat. 
 Though freqLiently solicited to become a can- 
 didate for public office, he invariably de- 
 clines. Mrs. P'owler and her daughter are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 ^RS. JULIA A. WILSON, one of 
 the best known temperance workers 
 ^ in Jefferson, Schoharie County, 
 N.V., was born in this town in January, 
 1828, daughter of John and Laura (Hamilton) 
 Nichols. She is of New P2ngland ancestry on 
 both sides. Her great-grandfather Nichols, 
 whose name was Daniel, was a resident of 
 Western Massachusetts. Her grandfather, 
 Ezra Nichols, came to New York from Will- 
 iamstown, Mass., settled as a jjioneerat North 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 239 
 
 Harpersnekl, Delaware County, N. Y., and 
 through energy and perseverance became the 
 owner of a good farm containing about two 
 hundred acres. He resided in that town for 
 the rest of his life. Ezra Nichols married 
 Elizabeth Knapp, of Dan bury, Conn., and his 
 children were: Daniel, John, Clemon, Eli, 
 Sarah, and Chloe. Daniel died in Harpers- 
 field; Clemon died in Jefferson, at the age of 
 ninety-four years ; Eli died in Madison, Ohio; 
 Sarah became Mrs. Knapp; and Chloe became 
 Mrs. Di.xon. 
 
 John Nichols, Mrs. Wilson's father, was 
 born on April i8, 1787, and was five years old 
 when his parents removed to Delaware 
 County. During his early years he resided 
 for a while in Dutchess County. He settled 
 in Jefferson in 1818, having resided with his 
 father for some time previous to coming here. 
 When his farm was ready for permanent occu- 
 pancy he went to Connecticut for his bride, 
 with whom he began life in a new house and 
 on a new farm. His industry and thrift 
 enabled him to accumulate a large amount of 
 property, and this he divided among his chil- 
 dren, his real estate alone amounting to twelve 
 hundred acres. John Nichols lived to be 
 ninety-five years old. He was fontl of read- 
 ing, and was a good mathematician. He also 
 possessed considerable musical ability, and 
 taught a singing-school in his neighborhood 
 for a number of years. Charitable and affec- 
 tionate in his disposition, he was considerate 
 of the feelings of others. His firm belief in 
 the immortality of the soul was the result of 
 long anil patient study of the Bible. In poli- 
 
 tics he was a Republican. His wife, Laura, 
 who was a native of Danbury, Conn., became 
 the mother of seven children, namely: Susan, 
 born in 1822; Franklin, born in 1824; 
 Wesley, born in 1S26; Julia A., the subject 
 of this sketch, born in January, 1828; Clara 
 E., born in T832; Cynthia L., born in 1834; 
 and George H., born in 1S36. Susan, who 
 died in 1845, was the wife of Joseph Hallen- 
 beck, a farmer. Franklin, who settled as a 
 farmer in Altona, Knox County, 111., married 
 Margaret Multer. Their children are: Wal- 
 ter, now residing at the old homestead in 
 Altona, 111.; George, a farmer of Summit, 
 N.Y. ; Nathan and Irving, who live in Illi- 
 nois. Wesley died in 1834. Clara E., who 
 is a graduate of Musicdale Seminary, Salem, 
 Conn., and was for some time engaged as a 
 teacher of music at Level Green Institute, 
 near -Suffolk, Va., and at Goldsboro College, 
 N.C., was married in 1857 to the Rev. John 
 O. Evans, of Harpersfield, N.Y. Mrs. I-Lvans 
 has two children, Thomas D. anrl l'"lorine, 
 both of whom possess remarkable musical 
 talent. Mr. Evans died in 1895 at Earned, 
 Kan. Cynthia L. Nichols, who is unmarried, 
 resides in Jefferson. George H. married 
 Maria Titus, and has three children — John, 
 Clara E., and Fred, all of whom are married. 
 
 Julia A., now Mrs. Wilson, was graduated 
 from the New York Conference Seminary, 
 Charlotteville, in 1852. She studied paint- 
 ing in Cobleskill, N. Y., and, having com- 
 pletetl her preparations for educational work, 
 she went to .Suffolk, Va., where she taught 
 painting at a young ladies' seminary, and was 
 
2^0 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 at one time its principal. Slie afterward 
 taught French and mathematics at the Golds- 
 boro (N.C.) College, remaining,' there until 
 compelled by failing health to return North, 
 when she relinquished her work with reluc- 
 tance. She married Henry Wilson in 1855, 
 and has resided in Jefferson continuously to 
 the present time. She has had two children, 
 neither of whom is living. Mrs. Wilson is 
 one of the most active members of the 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Jef- 
 ferson, having served as recording secretary 
 and as corresponding secretary, also as a dele- 
 gate to several State and county conventions. 
 She is a charter member of the local lodge. 
 Independent Order of Good Templars, in 
 which she is a Past Vice-Templar, and is its 
 treasurer at the present time. She belongs 
 to the Patrons of Husbandry, and is Chaplain 
 of the local grange. Mrs. Wilson is an active 
 member of the Presbyterian church, and for 
 years has devoted a great deal of her time to 
 Sunday-school and other religious work. 
 
 ILLly\M LAUDER CAMPBICLL, 
 Chief of Police, Schenectady, N.Y., 
 was born near (-atehouse, Kirkcudlirightshire, 
 Scotland, February 2, 1S44, son of William 
 and Susan (Lauder) Campbell. The family for 
 many preceding generations consisted of indus- 
 trious farming people, and some of its repre- 
 sentatives were overseers on large estates. The 
 grandfather, also named William Campbell, 
 was a native of Pertiishire, and sijent tlie 
 ^'.greater part of his life as a farm overseer in 
 
 Kirkcudbrightshire, in the south of Scotland. 
 He married a Miss Campbell, who, though not 
 a near relative, belonged to Clan Campbell, 
 and in all proliability was a descendant of the 
 same stock. The grandparents reared four 
 sons and four daughters. Two of the latter 
 married well-to-do husbands, and were left 
 widows with means. Coming to America with 
 their children in 1855, they purchased fine 
 farms in Prcscott, Canada, ojiposite Ogdens- 
 burg, N.Y. , and became ailliicnt. One was 
 the widow of William Plack, and the other of 
 David McKinnon. 
 
 In 1857 William Campbell, the father of 
 William Lauder, sailed from Wigton with his 
 wife and six of his chihh'en, for Liverpool, 
 where he embarked for the United -States on 
 board the ship "William Tapscott, " Captain 
 William Bell. Arriving at New York, August 
 17, 1858, after an eight weeks" passage, they 
 were met at Castle Garden by two other mem- 
 bers of their family, James and Mary, who had 
 preceded them a year before. The parents set- 
 tled first at Hay Side, Long Island. They had 
 ten children, two of wdinm died in Scotland; 
 and Charles, aged nine, and Robert, aged one 
 year and si.x months, died of scarlet fever while 
 on the passage over, and were buried at sea. 
 The li\ing are: James, a farmer and landscajie 
 gardener, who married a Miss Palmer, and re- 
 sides at Hartford, Conn. ; Mary, who married 
 John Dillen, a farmer, and resides at Choji- 
 tauk, Caroline County, Md. ; William L. , the 
 subject of this sketci) ; Susan, who niairied 
 Robert llemmens, an Englishman, and a 
 moulder by trade, residing in .Schenectad}' ; 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 241 
 
 Jessie, wife of James Myers, a contractor 
 and builder at Schenectady, N. Y. ; and Mar- 
 garet, who is the widow of James Mac- 
 gregor, late Paymaster's Clerk in the United 
 States navy, is now living in Baltimore, Md. , 
 and has one daughter. James Campbell, who 
 is now residing at Hartford, Conn., was super- 
 vising agent and landscape gardener for the 
 Morgans of New Vork for seventeen years, and 
 was employed in the same capacity by the 
 Garrctts of Baltimore, Md. , having charge of 
 their entire estate, amounting to three thou- 
 sand acres, with several assistant superintend- 
 ents under him. The father died in 1894, 
 aged nearly eighty-three years, surviving the 
 mother, who died in 1S90, aged seventy-seven. 
 William L. Campbell obtained his elemen- 
 tary education in Scotland, where (as well as 
 in the United States, after his arrival here) he 
 attended both the day and night schools. Hav- 
 ing acquired a good knowledge of landscape 
 gardening from his father, and receiving from 
 the latter his full liberty some years previous to 
 his majority, he entered the employ of Andrew 
 Boardman, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where he re- 
 mained seven years, supervising the laying out 
 of that gentleman's gardens, roads, lawns, and 
 pleasui"c-grounds, having previously attended 
 school and worked with his father, at P'lushing, 
 Long Island. lie followed landscape garden- 
 ing until joining the Schenectady police force 
 in 1869, and during his residence in Poughkeep- 
 sie he drove the first stake in laying out the 
 grounds of Vassar College. From his boy- 
 hood he has taken a lively inteicst in out-door 
 games, and he was known in his youth as a 
 
 good all-around athlete. Coming to Schenec- 
 tady in 1868 solely for the purpose of attend- 
 ing a supper given by the St. Andrew's Soci- 
 ety, he was induced to locate here, and on Au- 
 gust 3, 1869, was appointed a patrolman on 
 the capitol police force in this city. That 
 body was disbanded eleven months afterward, 
 and going to Saratoga he was for the succeed- 
 ing three months in charge of a force whose 
 duty it was to [latrol the streets and watch 
 pi'ivate propert)', he having been the first uni- 
 formed police officer to do duty in that village. 
 Returning to this city after spending the sum- 
 mer months in Saratoga, he again in Septem- 
 ber, 1870, joined the regular Schenectady 
 police force as a patrolman ; was advanced on 
 June I, 1872, to the position of assistant to 
 Charles H. Willard, whom he succeeded as 
 chief on July 6 of the same year. He has 
 held that office ever since, a period of twenty- 
 seven years, having acted chief from Jul}- 6 
 to December 3, 1872, when he received reg- 
 ular appointment — longer than that of any 
 other chief or superintendent of police in the 
 State of New York, and, as far as known, in 
 the United States. 
 
 On January 10, 1872, Mr. Campbell was 
 joined in marriage with Harriet S. Orr, of 
 Saratoga, N. Y. They have had two sons, one 
 of them, Bertie, died at the age of one year. 
 William Alexander Campbell, who was grad- 
 uated from Union University in 1897, and after 
 studying law at the law school of the same 
 university, where he graduated June 26, 1899, 
 and was admitted to the bar July 13, 1S99, 
 is, lii<e his father and grandfather, unusually 
 
243 
 
 BIOflRAPMICAT, RF.VIF.W 
 
 well-developed physically. He is ])roficieiit 
 in athletic sports, and a champion bicycle rider 
 anil lawn tennis player. 
 
 Mr. Campbell belongs to the Masonic Order, 
 the I^lks, the Knights of I'ythias, and the ]'"or- 
 esters. 
 
 In his report as chief of police of the city of 
 Schenectady for the year ending November 30, 
 1898 — an interesting and valuable document, 
 betokening a clear head and an earnest pur- 
 pose — Mr. Campbell recommends that the 
 [jciial ordinances, so far as they relate to peace 
 and good order, together with the sanitary rules 
 and regulations of the city, be printed in 
 pamphlet form the size of a pocket diary and 
 placed in the hands of the newsdealers for 
 sale; that police officers and city officials be 
 pro\ided with copies; and that ])upils in the 
 schools should be instructed as to their duties 
 in observing ordinances. lie would have even 
 the smallest child thus led to see that a 
 policeman is his servant and not his master. 
 h'ollnwiiiL; the adoption of this plan, he sagcl\' 
 thinks that "another genei'ation would see the 
 number of policemen in cities reduced to one- 
 half the ratio ]icr thousand inhabitant now 
 employed, and in this way our citizens woultl 
 become more nearly self-governing." 
 
 \CA;/ II.LLAM II. AL15RO, of Middle- 
 j-*^»' burg, Schoharie County, N.\'., is 
 of iMiglish, Welsh, and Holland ancestr)'. On 
 the ])atenral side he is a descendant of John 
 Albro, who was horn in .'Mdhoro, I'^ngland, in 
 
 1617, and who married in 1C47 Doratha Potter, 
 widow of Nathaniel Potter. 
 
 In 1634, at the age of seventeen years, John 
 .■\lbro embarked in the ship "Francis" from 
 Ipswich, England, for Boston. In 1638 he 
 went with William I'reeborn to Portsmouth, 
 R.I. In 1639 certain lands at Portsmouth, 
 R. I., were granted to said John Albro and 
 others, by the king of iMigland, on centlition 
 that they build upon those lands within 
 one year — which they did. And upon the 
 lands thus acquired John Albro and his 
 descendants lived for nearly two hundred 
 years. In 1644 this John Albro was a Cor- 
 poral in the Colonial militia, rising succes- 
 sively in after \ears to be Lieutenant, Cap- 
 tain, and Major. In 1649 he was chosen to 
 view cattle, to he clerk of weights and meas- 
 ures, and member of Town Council. In 1660 
 and 1661 he was a commissioner, and member 
 of a committee to receive contributions for 
 agents in ICngland. In 1666 he was aijpointed 
 with two other persons to take areas of high- 
 ways and driftways not set off. In 1670, with 
 three other persons, he loaned the colony of 
 Rhode Island seven pounds on account of the 
 town of Portsmouth. I'Vom 1671 to 1686, 
 with the exception of a few years in the seven- 
 ties, he was an Assistant, a town officer. In 
 1676 he with three other persons was ap- 
 pointed a committee for the care and disposal 
 of i)Owdcr for the supply of Portsmouth. He 
 was also a commissioner to order watch and 
 ward of the island. This was during King 
 Philip's War. He was also a member of the 
 coLUt-marlial at Newjjort to try certain Ind- 
 
WILLIAM HENRY ALBRU. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 
 
 245 
 
 ians. In 1677 he was a member of a commit- 
 tee in the matter of injurious and illegal acts 
 of Connecticut. In 1679 he was one of the 
 members of a committee to draw up a letter to 
 the king of England, giving an account of the 
 territory of Mount Hope and of their late war 
 with the Indians. He was also appointed with 
 one other person a committee to lay out the 
 western boundary line of the colony. In 16S5 
 he, Major John Albro, Assistant and Coroner, 
 summoned a jury in the case of an Indian 
 found dead on clay-])it lands. The verdict of 
 the jury was "That the said Indian being 
 much distempered with drink, was bewildered, 
 and by the extremity of the cold he lost his 
 life." In 1686 he was a member of Sir Ed- 
 mund Andros's Council, and was present at 
 their first meeting at Boston, December 30, 
 1686. In 1697 he was allowed twenty shill- 
 ings for his expenses for going to Boston. He 
 died December 14, 17 12. His will, dated 
 December 28, 1710, was proved in 1713. By 
 it he divided a considerable amount of real and 
 personal property among his sons and daugh- 
 ters and their children. He was buried in his 
 own orchard. His children were: Samuel, 
 Elizabeth, Mary, John, and Susannah. 
 
 John Albro, second, who is in the direct 
 line of descent to the subject of this sketch, 
 marrieil Mary Stokes, April 27, 1693. In 
 1677 he and others granted five thousand 
 acres of land to be called East Greenwich, 
 upon which land so granted stands the present 
 town of PZast Greenwich, R.I. He died De- 
 cember 4, 1724. His son, John Albro, third, 
 whi) was bnrn August 23, 1694, married Ruth 
 
 Lawton, November 25, 1725. He had a son 
 John, fourth, sometimes called Jonathan, who 
 was born January 2, 1734, and married Sarah 
 Taber, October 21, 1759. This fourth John 
 y\lbro was a private in Captain Benjamin 
 West's company. Colonel John Topham's regi- 
 ment of Rhode Island troops, during the Revo- 
 lutionary War, from March 16, 1778, to Feb- 
 ruary 20, 1779. John, fourth (or, as he was 
 more commonly called, Jonathan) Albro, had a 
 son Isaac, who was born at Portsmouth, R. I., 
 September 3, 1765. Isaac Albro married 
 Sarah Bliss, whose ancestors were English and 
 Welsh. She was a daughter of William Bliss, 
 whose father, Josiah Bliss, was the son of 
 John and Damaris (Arnold) Bliss, the latter 
 a daughter of Benedict Arnold, who was one of 
 Rhode Island's earliest and best governors. 
 John Bliss was an Ensign in the Continental 
 Army in 1667, also a Deputy. In 1696 he was 
 a Major for Rhode Island. Governor Arnold, 
 his wife's father, built as a wind-mill for 
 grinding grain, it is now said, the Old Stone 
 Tower, which for a great many years has been 
 one of Newport's greatest curiosities to visi- 
 tors, and which for a long time was supposed 
 to have been built by the Northmen, or Norse- 
 men, who landed on the coast of New England 
 before the discovery of America by Columbus. 
 About the year 1800 Isaac Albro and family 
 moved from Portsmouth, R. I. , where for 
 nearly two centuries his ancestors had lived, to 
 the town of Berne, Albany County, N. V. 
 Aiiout the year 1785 John Bliss, who was a 
 brother of Sarah Bliss, wife of Isaac Albro, 
 removed from Portsmoutii to Greenfield, Sara- 
 
246 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 toga Coiint\', N. V. , seven miles from Saratoga 
 Sprin,i;s. In the month of February, 1801, 
 John 151iss walketl all the way from his home 
 in firecniiekl, Saratoga County, N. Y. , to 
 Ne\v|)(]rt, R. I., to sulnnil to the ordinance of 
 baptism. John Bliss had twelve sons and four 
 daughters. One of the sons, Isaac Bliss, was 
 the father of P. P. Bliss, the author of the 
 Gospel Hymns, and a singer and musical com- 
 poser of world-wide reputation, who met a \mo- 
 lent death December 29, 1876, by a railroad 
 accident at Ashtabula, Ohio. Isaac Albro was 
 a prosperous farmer. He died November 12, 
 1838, having survix'cd his wife Sarah about 
 thiit\-thrce years. 
 
 Their son, Benjamin Albi'o, who was born 
 December 25, 1802, married Mary E. Bassler, 
 of Middleburg, Schoharie County, N.Y. , 
 January 17, 1S38. She was born July 25, 
 1818, and died February 7, 1884. Her ances- 
 tors originally came from Holland, and pre\i- 
 ous to the Revolutionary War settled in the 
 towns of Beinc and Knox, Albany County, 
 N.y. Ill early life Benjamin Albro taught 
 school in Alban_\- and Schoharie Counties, and 
 afterwards in \Va\ne and Cayuga Counties, 
 New \'oik. He was engaged in mercantile 
 business for some )-ears, was Town .Superin- 
 tendent of conmion schools of the town of Mid- 
 dleburg, and for the last forty-five years of his 
 life he lived upon a farm near the village of 
 Middleburg. He was an honored member of 
 the Middleburg Methodist Episcopal church 
 for sevent_\'-three }'ears, and was noted for his 
 integrity and character. He died February 
 10, 1895, aged ninet)-two years. 
 
 Benjamin Albro and Mary E. Albro, his 
 wife, had a son, William Hcnr)' Albro, the 
 subject of this sketch, who was born in the 
 town of Middleburg, Schoharie County, N.Y., 
 on September 8, 1840. He obtained his ele- 
 mentary education in the district and select 
 schools of the town, was fitted for college at 
 Charlotteville Seminary and F"ort lulward In- 
 stitute, and he attended and was graduated 
 from Union College at Schenectady, N. V. 
 He taught several terms in the district schools 
 of the town. Afterward he read law in the 
 ofifice of W. H. Engle, Esq., of MitUUeburg, 
 during the years 1864 and 1865, and was ad- 
 mitted to practice as an attorney and counsel- 
 lor-at-law of this State at a general term of the 
 Sujireme Court held at the capitol in tlie city 
 of Albany, N.Y. , on Decembers, 1865. (^n 
 January i, 1866, he formed a partnership for 
 the jjracticc of law with the said W. II. 
 Engle, which continued until h'ebruary, 1874, 
 when it was dissolved b_\' mutual consent. He 
 then o]iencd an office in the village of Middle- 
 burg, where he has been engaged in the prac- 
 tice of law up to tlie i^rescnt time. 
 
 On October 31, 1S67, William Henry Albro 
 married IClizabeth Dodge, daughter of the late 
 Daniel 1). Dodge, of Middleburg, N.Y., now 
 deceased. Three childien were the fruit of 
 this union, namely: Willie D. Albro, who 
 was born January 29, 1870, and who died of 
 scarlet fever April 14, 1872; Arthur D. 
 Alhii), who was born October 29, 1871, and 
 who died November 28, 1893; and Grace D. 
 Albro, wlio was born Ma\' 5, 1874. 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth DoiIltc Albro was born in the 
 
BIOGRArHICAL REVIEW 
 
 247 
 
 town of Middleburg, Schoharie County, N.Y. , 
 on September 7, 1S37, and died February 8, 
 1892. She was a most excellent wife and 
 mother, and was held in high esteem by all 
 who knew her. Her death caused as nnich 
 genuine sorrow as that of any other person ever 
 did in the community in which she was known 
 and had lived. In every true sense of the term 
 she was of the noblest and best type of women. 
 Her husband, the subject of this sketch, and 
 their daughter, Grace D. , are all of the family 
 who now survive her. The son, Arthur Dodge 
 Albi'o, a bright and promising young man, 
 who had just entered upon business life, sur- 
 vived his mother only about two years. Since 
 the death of mother and son, the father and 
 daughter li\e together in the old home and 
 constitute the remnant of what was once a 
 jDrosperous and happy family. 
 
 Upon Arthur's death his business came into 
 the hands of his father; and since then, in ad- 
 dition to his general law practice, the subject 
 of this sketch has been conducting a large and 
 successful mercantile business. His store is 
 one of the largest in the county, carrying a 
 large stock of drugs, groceries, and miscellane- 
 ous goods. His law office contains one of the 
 largest and best-selected law libraries in the 
 county. He has been faiily successful as a 
 lawyer, and also as a business man. He has 
 held some official positions, among them that 
 of School Commissioner of First Commissioner 
 District of Schoharie County, during the years 
 1879, 1880, and 1 881. He was elected to 
 tint office by a majority of two hundred and 
 eighteen votes at a time when there was a natu- 
 
 ral political majority of about five hunch-ed 
 against him. He points with pride to the 
 record which he made while holding that office. 
 No paper sent by him to the office of the State 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction was re- 
 jected or sent back to him for correction, and 
 no request was ever made by him to the super- 
 intendent that was not cheerfully and promptly 
 granted. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity ; also of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, of which he has been a trus- 
 tee for many years, and in which he has held 
 other positions of trust. He was virtually the 
 founder of the Union Free School and Acad- 
 emy at Middleburg, N.Y., and was the first 
 president of the Board of Education of that in- 
 stitution. His daughter Grace was one of the 
 first graduates of this institution. 
 
 The Albro family, of Aldboro, England," of 
 which the original John Albro was a member, 
 had a coat-of-arms, a record of which may be 
 found in the public offices of London at the 
 present day. From the facts aforesaid, it 
 clearly appears that Mr. Albro is a lineal de- 
 scendant in the seventh degree of John Albro, 
 of Aldboro, England, born 1617; that he is 
 also a lineal descendant in the si.xth degree of 
 Benedict Arnold, Governor of Rhode Island for 
 three terms, beginning in 1663, 'Tid "'ho built 
 Newport's Old Stone Tower; and that he is re- 
 lated in the sixth degree to I'. P. Bliss, author 
 of Gospel Hymns and a celebrated musical 
 composer. He takes pride in tracing his an- 
 cestry back through the centuries and to and 
 through families in whose veins flowed some nf 
 
248 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 the purest and best of Knglisli, Welsh, and 
 H(jlland blood. 
 
 -HinVIN I). IIAGER, a general merchant 
 il Blenheim, Schoharie County, is 
 prominently identified with the leading inter- 
 ests of this section of the State. He vva.s born 
 May 31, 1H47, in Middleburg, N.Y., a son of 
 Daniel J. Ilager, and the lineal descendant, 
 we are told, of one of four brothers who came 
 from Holland to America in the seventeenth 
 century, and assisted the settlement of eastern 
 New York. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Jacob Hager, was 
 for many years an extensive farmer in b'ulton, 
 whence he and his wife, Cathern Feeh, re- 
 moved with their tweh'c children to Oeland, 
 Orleans County, N.Y. , where both died when 
 well advanced in years. The grandfather was 
 acti\e in local affairs in both counties in which 
 he resiileil, and in both he owned and cleared 
 large tracts of land. Si.x of his children sub- 
 sequently returned to Schoharie County, and 
 for a time li\cd in Breakabeen. They were: 
 Tunis, Jacob, John, Daniel J., Jane, and Mar- 
 garet, none of whom are now living. 
 
 Tunis Hager marrietl Rebecca Becker, and 
 settled in .Sharon .Springs. Jacob married, 
 and removed to Albany, and in 1849 he went 
 with the gold-seekers to California. Return- 
 ing from the Pacific Coast to Schoharie, he 
 ke|)t the ])ul)lic house known as the Wood 
 House a few years, after which he Cdndinted a 
 hotel that occupied the site of the [nesent capi- 
 tol building in Albany, and then coming back to 
 
 this county he farmed it in the town of Espcr- 
 ancc until his decease. John went with his 
 brothei' Jacob to California, came back with 
 him to SclKjharie, and after his marriage made 
 a second trip to the Golden Gate. Returning 
 East, he went into the livery business with 
 Jesse Mills in New York City. In a short 
 time he sold out to his partner, and opened a 
 livery on his own account at CS96 ]5roadway, 
 and at the St. Nicholas Hotel, wheie he car- 
 ried on a thriving business some years. Re- 
 tiring then from the livery, he bought a beau- 
 tiful farm in l-ihinebeck, whither he removed 
 with his wife and three sons, and there lived 
 until his death, at the age of threescore and 
 ten years. 
 
 Daniel J. Hager was born in I'ulton, Sep- 
 tember 5, 181 I. He learned the shoemaker's 
 trade in his native place, and after his mar- 
 riage, at the age of twenty-one, he continued 
 to work at it first at Middleburg, then at 
 Breakabeen, and finally in ]?lcnheim, where he 
 passed his last years, d\'ing Seiitember 18, 
 1871. He was a loyal Republican in politics, 
 and as a soldier in the Union army he partici- 
 pated in several of the battles of the Civil 
 War. He married h^liza C. Zelie, who was 
 a native t>f I'ulton, being the eldest of a fam- 
 ily of nine childien — l^Iiza C. , Lias, Chris- 
 tina, David, Jane, ]']phraim, Harriet, Andrew, 
 and Margaret — born to Peter Zelie, whose 
 wife was before marriage a Miss Vroman. 
 (h'nrthei' ancestral history may be fdund on an- 
 other jiage of this work, in connectinn with the 
 sketch of Luther Zelie. ) Mrs. Eliza C. Zelie 
 Hager was born November 10, 1816, and died 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 249 
 
 October 10, 1S74. She had five children, 
 namely: Mary C, wife of George Becker, the 
 representative of an old family of Schoharie 
 County; William S., a farmer in Blen- 
 heim; Peter Z., a farmer in Oswego County; 
 Edwin D. ; and Harriet A., wife of Peter 
 Burgett, of Schoharie County. Both parents 
 were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church of Middleburg, in which the father 
 held various offices. 
 
 Edwin D. Hager attended the district 
 schools in his youthful days, and until he was 
 sixteen years old he remained at home with his 
 parents. He subsequently worked out by the 
 day, sometimes as a farm laborer, for two 
 years, after which he was em|jloyed by his 
 brother-in-law as a clerk in Breakabeen for 
 three years. The ensuing year he was en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business for himself 
 in Blenheim. He then sold out, and for two 
 years was employed as a clerk or a teacher. 
 In 1868 he went to Catskill, where he re- 
 mained a year, when he returned to Blenheim, 
 and for a year was here a clerk in a general 
 store. Going then to Middleburg, Mr. Hager 
 was with J. Nevill three years, and then, in 
 partnership with the late Silas Sweet, he 
 bought out the store of John Hager, in ]51en- 
 heim, and carried on a successful business 
 until the death of Mr. Sweet, three years 
 later. The following sjiring he sold out the 
 business, and the next year purchased a half- 
 interest with Seneca West, and later formed 
 a copartnership with Ira Haverly, to whom, at 
 the end of four years, he sold out. Two years 
 later Mr. Hager purchased the building which 
 
 he is now occupying, and put in a new and 
 complete stock of merchandise. He has now 
 one of the largest stores in this section of the 
 county, and carries the finest stock of gooils in 
 his line. Being one of the oldest merchants 
 in this locality, and with two exceptions the 
 oldest in the county, he is well known, and it 
 is safe to say no man has a better reputation, 
 or is more highly esteemed in business and 
 social circles. 
 
 Mr. Hager is a strong silver man in poli- 
 tics, and takes a prominent part in local 
 affairs. For eighteen consecutive years he 
 was a member of the county committee, and 
 was a regular attendant at all conventions. In 
 1882 he served as a delegate to the State con- 
 vention held in Syracuse, and in 18S3 as a 
 delegate to the Congressional convention. He 
 has served as Supervisor of the town four 
 terms, in 1878, 1879, 1882, and 1883; and in 
 1884 he was appointed Postmaster by Pres- 
 ident Cleveland, a position to which he was 
 again appointed in 1892. He is one of the 
 trustees of the school district, and a stock- 
 holder in the Blenheim Creamery Company, of 
 which he has been president since its incorpo- 
 ration. Fraternally, he united with the Mid- 
 dleburg Lodge, F. & A. M., in 1870, and is 
 also a member of the Middleburg Lodge, 
 I. O. O. F. 
 
 On November 16, 1876, Mr. Hager married 
 Nellie E. Beckwith, of Springfield, Mass., 
 daughter of Calvin and Lucy B. Balton Beck- 
 with. Mr. and Mr.s. Hager are the parents of 
 three children, namely: Clyde L. , who died at 
 the age of twenty-two months; Eugene B., 
 
25° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 born August 28, 1877; aiul Florence A., born 
 July 20, 1882. Eugene 15. Ilager, who was 
 educated in the graded schools, was formerly 
 em[)lc)yed as clerk in ]5rooklyn and New York 
 City, but is now in business with his father, 
 lie niairieil, December 15, 1897, Margie Dib- 
 ble, who was born March 8, 1S78, in Middle- 
 burg, a daughter of and Eliza- 
 beth (Dexter) Dibble. Mr. Ilager anil all his 
 family attend the Methotlist Episcojial church. 
 
 MBROSE R. HUiNTING, a promi- 
 nent citizen of Schoharie, N. Y., re- 
 siding on the Hunting homestead, 
 was born in this town on September 14, 1833, 
 son of Joseph and Mary A. (Chesebro) 
 Hunting. 
 
 The first of his family in this country was 
 John Hunting, who came from England in 
 August, 1638, and settled in Dedham, Mass. 
 He was one of the founders of that town, and 
 an Elder in the church there for many years. 
 He had a son named John, of whom little is 
 known, and a grandson, Nathaniel, who was 
 graduated at Harvard College, and subse- 
 quently preached to the church in Ivist Hamji- 
 ton, N.Y., for fifty-seven years. 
 
 The fourth in line, Nathaniel Hunting, sec- 
 ond, was educated for the ministry, but poor 
 health compelled him to give up his beloved 
 profession, and devote himself to agriculture. 
 His son, Joseph Hunting, was a sea captain. 
 After this Joseph came two others of the same 
 name. The first of these, who was the grand- 
 father of Ambrose R. Hunting, was the first 
 
 Hunting to come to .Schoharie. He came 
 hither from Eong Island in 1791, accomjianied 
 by his mother, and settled on the farm which 
 has since been in the possession of his de- 
 scendants. He was a shoemaker by trade, 
 but was engaged more or less in farming and 
 in mercantile affairs. 
 
 The third Joseph Hunting, father of Am- 
 brose R., was born in Schoharie in 1805, and 
 resided in the town throughout his life. He 
 was known as a man who attended strictly to 
 his own affairs and caused no annoyance to 
 other persons by interference. He never 
 brought suit against any one, was never sued, 
 ami never called upon to serve as a witness. 
 In politics he was a Democrat. He was a 
 leading member of the Methodist church, and 
 for more than forty years a class leader. His 
 wife, Mary, was born in Knox, Albany 
 County, the daughter of Peleg Chesebro, a 
 cooper and farmer. Her grandfather, Chris- 
 topher Chesebro, who was a carpenter by 
 trade, fought in the Revolution. He lived 
 originally in Stonington, Conn., but removed 
 thence to Kno.x in 1791. 
 
 Ambrose R. Hunting was reared on the pa- 
 ternal homestead, and attentled the public 
 schools until he was seventeen years of age. 
 He then was sent to Schoharie Academy for 
 two terms, and afterward to the New York 
 Conference Seminary at Charlotteville. After 
 studying there for two years, he was prepared 
 to enter the Junior class at L'nion College, 
 Schenectady; but, his family being opposed to 
 the profession he hafl chosen, he yielded to 
 their wishe.^ and withdrew from school. After 
 
IIIKAM Kll'KNIlARK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 253 
 
 teaching for several terms he returned to the 
 farm and began devoting himself to agri- 
 culture. 
 
 Mr. Hunting has been a loyal member of 
 the Methodist church for fifty years, and has 
 held every position in the church to which a 
 layman is entitled, except that of lay delegate 
 to the general conference. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. He has held the office of Super- 
 visor for four years, that of School Commis- 
 sioner for two terms, and for a year he was a 
 member of the Assembly. Fraternally, he is 
 connected with Schoharie Valley Lodge, No. 
 491, F. & A. M.; and John L. Lewis Chap- 
 ter, No. 229, R. A. M. 
 
 Mr. Hunting was first married on April 14, 
 1859, to Amanda Severson. Two sons were 
 born of this union: William J., who died in 
 1S75; and Edwin F., who is a graduate of the 
 Albany College of Pharmacy, and is now a 
 successful druggist in that city. On June 5, 
 1869, Mr. Hunting was married to Mary M. 
 Northrop, who was born in Berne, Albany 
 County, the daughter of Asa T. and Ann E. 
 Northrop. By this second marriage there is 
 one child, Florence A. She has received a 
 musical education at Claverack Institute. 
 
 2)TIRAM RIFENBARK, a represcnta- 
 — • I tive citizen of the town of .Summit, 
 residing in the village of Charlotte- 
 ville, was born in Summit on April 30, 1839, 
 his parents being Aaron and Mary (Banks) 
 Rifenbark. 
 
 The family is of German origin, and Mr. 
 
 Rifenbark's great-grandfather spelled his name 
 Rifenbarek. The grandfather, Henry Rifen- 
 bark, came from Columbia County in 1802 or 
 near that date, and settled about two miles east 
 of Summit village. There he owned a whiskey 
 still, a store, and an inn or tavern. He was a 
 man of influence and of considerable property, 
 and his tavern was often the gathering place 
 of iinportant assemblies. Town meetings were 
 sometimes held there. His brother Peter was 
 a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed church. 
 Henry Rifenbark's wife was a daughter of 
 Caleb Clark, who was captured by the British 
 and Indians during the Revolution, and carried 
 to Canada. There Mr. Clark was kept at Fort 
 Niagara under guard, but was sent out every 
 day with other captives under a guard of 
 Indians U> chop wood in the forest. The Ind- 
 ians, believing that it was impossible for 
 them to escape, often left them alone during 
 the day, returning for them at night. Mr. 
 Clark and his fellow-prisoners, however, with 
 sturdy pioneer determination, resolved to make 
 an effort to regain their freedom. Accord- 
 ingly, one morning after their captors had left 
 them, they started on snow-shoes for the Mo- 
 hawk River, carrying the food that had been 
 measured out to them for their mid-day meal. 
 For many days this was all the food they had. 
 At length, at the end of a week, he and his 
 companions came to a deserted and tumble- 
 down hut in the Mohawk Valley, where they 
 found some mice. These they were forced to 
 eat to keep themselves from starving. They 
 finally reached home in safety, but Mr. Clark 
 always felt exceedingly bitter toward the Brit- 
 
254 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ish. Ilcniy Kifcnbark and his wife had seven 
 children, three sons — Marry C, Aaron, and 
 Ebenezer — and lour daui;hters — Julia Ann, 
 llattic, Marriet, and Caroline. All of the 
 boys became farmers. 
 
 Aaron Rifenbark, who was born in Summit 
 in 1804, and died in 1883, was a leading citi- 
 zen here and a [irominent man in the Demo- 
 cratic party. He was twice married, the first 
 time to Mary ]5anks and the second time to 
 her sister Catharine. The first wife died in 
 1848 and the second in 1895. The six chil- 
 dren — William H., John, who is deceased, 
 Hiram, Ebenezer, Permelia, and Hettie — were 
 the fruit of the first marriage. The first- 
 named of these, who resides in Hobart, Ind., 
 is a leading Republican there, and in 1897 and 
 1899 was a member of the Indiana legislature. 
 He is prominent in business circles and as a 
 Grand Army man. In the year iSgS he was 
 engaged in building county roads. In 1893 he 
 exhibited at the World's Fair steel neck yokes 
 ami whiffletrees manufactured by the company 
 of which he was president. Ebenezer Rifen- 
 bark resides at Summit. He fought for the 
 Union in the Civil War, and was wounded at 
 Gettysburg. Permelia is the wife of Winthrcjp 
 D. Gallu|). Hettie married I'. P. Gordon, 
 M.D., of Hobart, Ind., and died in 1892. 
 
 Hiram Rifenbark received his education in 
 the public schools of Summit and at Char- 
 lottcville Seminary. At the age of seven- 
 teen he engaged to work on a farm seven 
 months for sixty-five dollars. Mr. II. Master.s, 
 his employer, who was away from h(jme much 
 of the time, told him one day to sow a piece 
 
 of land to buckwheat, ])utting in two bushels 
 of seed. This was new^ work to Rifenbark. 
 He began sowing broadcast, and soon found 
 that he had put half the seed on a quarter 
 of the land. He then sowed the remainder 
 of the seed more sparingly, making it co\'er 
 the other three-fourths of the kuul. He 
 watched the growth with interest, but before 
 harvest time the cows got into the field and 
 ate up the grain, thick and thin. He lost not 
 a day in that seven months. In the winter he 
 attended school, and the next seven months 
 he workeil for a farmer in P^ulton, his only 
 holiday being the Fourth of July, which he 
 insisted on keeping. The next winter lie 
 taught school four months at ten dollars a 
 month. April i of his nineteenth year found 
 him engaged to a farmer in Summit seven 
 months at eleven dollars a month. This sum- 
 mer there was not a day of lost time, the man 
 for whom he worked gi\ing him the Fourth of 
 July. The following winter he again taught 
 in the same district where he taught the first 
 term, but with an increase of two dollars a 
 month in his wages. He continued to teach 
 schixil winters after this until he was married 
 and settled on the farm, teaching one term in 
 the winter, while 011 the farm, at two dollars a 
 day. When twenty years old he worked seven 
 months at Richmondville, ilri\ing team for the 
 iron foundry at tweUe dollars a month. The 
 next spring he began working at carpentry, 
 continuing for three summers under a boss, 
 and after that time he took jobs for himself 
 till he purchased his father's farm of ninety-six 
 acres in 1868. I'"our years later he sold the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 255 
 
 farm, and bought the property, including the 
 store now belonging to Levi J. Lincoln in 
 Charlotteville, N. \'. After conducting a gen- 
 eral merchandise business there for ten years, 
 he sold the property, and, buying a \acant lot, 
 built the residence he now occupies and the 
 store across the street, where he conducted 
 business for twelve years. He then sold the 
 goods to Kingsley & Griffin, to whom he rented 
 the store. Since that time he has been selling 
 agricultural implements and fertilizers, and 
 looking after business for himself and others. 
 Mr. Rifenbark is a strong Democrat. He has 
 shown a warm interest in political matters 
 ever since he became a voter. He has been 
 on the Town Committee a number of times, 
 on the School Board several terms, in 1865 
 Town Clerk, and much of tlu; time since 
 1870 Notary Public. He has also served two 
 terms as a Justice of the Peace, and has done 
 a large amount of business settling estates 
 and drawing contracts. He has served as e.\- 
 ecutor of a number of the wills filed in this 
 town, as he is kn(nvn to have an excellent 
 knowledge of technical law points. P^rom 
 188S to 1S90, inclusive, he was Supervisor of 
 Summit. His record as Supervisor is marked 
 primarily by a strong effort to secure an honest 
 and economical expenditure of the public 
 funds. P'earless and daring in his personal 
 expression and effort when he believed himself 
 laboring in a worthy cause, he met with .some 
 opposition, but in the main won a loyal recog- 
 nition from his constituents. He broke up 
 abuses in the county relating to the housing 
 and feeding oi vagrants, secured action by the 
 
 governing board that caused the removal of all 
 luxuries from the county prison, and worked 
 hard for a reduction cjf expenses in every way. 
 He served on the Committee on Sheriffs' Ac- 
 counts, on public and other buildings, and on 
 the Committee on Legislation. 
 
 Mr. Rifenbark married Amelia Burnett, 
 daughter of Colonel George O. Burnett, who 
 was prominent in the militia. Mrs. Rifen- 
 bark attended Charlotteville .Seminary, and 
 subsequently taught school for ten terms be- 
 fore her marriage. She is active in church 
 work, and when the Good Templars and the 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union were in 
 existence here was one of their earnest sup- 
 porters. Mr. Rifenbark was also connected 
 with the Good Templars, being Chief Tem- 
 plar. He has been clerk of the Baptist church 
 at Summit, a member of tlie ministerial com- 
 mittee, trustee, and for years superintendent 
 of the Sunday-school. He is the teacher of 
 the Bible class. He is strictly temperate in 
 all things. His early life taught him the 
 value of money, and he then acquired the hab- 
 its of industry and economy which are still 
 characteristic of him. He is a liberal con- 
 tributor to every good cause, but never up- 
 holds extravagance or waste. 
 
 ICHAEL LACKEY, Jk., real es- 
 tate and insurance broker, a well- 
 known business man of Greene 
 County, is a resident of Tannersville, where 
 he was born on November 24, i860, son of 
 Michael and Catherine (Burke) Lackey, His 
 
256 
 
 UlOGRArmCAL REVIEW 
 
 jjarents are still living, and make their home 
 with him. 
 
 I lis paternal grandfather, Thomas Lackey, 
 who was born in Ireland, went to England in 
 1 82 1, and resided there until 1S29, when he 
 emigrated to America, and, settling in New 
 York City, followed the trade of a cabinet- 
 maker. In 1835 Tiiomas Lackey retired from 
 active business pursuits and came to Tanners- 
 ville, where he resided with his son, the elder 
 Michael, until his death, which occurred in 
 
 1853- 
 
 Michael Lackey, Sr. , father of the subject 
 
 of this sketch, was born in Ireland, May 18, 
 1H15. Me came to America with his parents 
 when fourteen years old, and was educated in 
 the night schools of New York City. He 
 learned the trade of a house painter, which he 
 followed there for a time and then removed to 
 Tannersville, where he continued in the same 
 occupation. He also kept a country tavern in 
 the old stage times when Tannersville was a 
 hamlet called Greenland. He is a Democrat 
 in politics, and has held offices. His wife, 
 whose maiden name was Catherine Burke, is 
 a native of Ireland. They have had four chil- 
 dren, two of whom are now living; namely, 
 Michael, Jr., and his sister, Lizzie P. The 
 latter is the wife of Michael B. Dolan. 
 
 Michael Lackey, Jr., acquired his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of Tannersville. 
 At the age of fifteen he went to New York 
 City, and entered Lhrich's dry-goods store on 
 Eighth Avenue, where he kept the country 
 order books for one year. He then engaged 
 in the ice cream and confectionery business at 
 
 the corner of ICighth Avenue and P^ifty-ninth 
 Street. Returning to Tannersville later, he 
 taught school until 1883, at the same time 
 studying law and becoming a practitioner. 
 In 1S75 he purchased a farm of one hundred 
 acres in Hunter known as Onteora Glen, 
 which he conducted with his other business 
 until 1892. I'Vom May 10, 1S91, to October 
 20 of that year, he was proprietor of a laun.dry, 
 having an exclusive contract for Onteora Park, 
 including thirty cottages and a large inn; and 
 he was ably assisted in this work by his wife. 
 He moved from his farm in 1892, renting it 
 until 1896 when he exchanged that property 
 for the half-way house on the road to Hunter, 
 anil removed to the \'illage of Tannersville. 
 Soon after his return he erected a dwelling- 
 house, oflRce, and store, the latter of which is 
 well stocked with stationery, school supplies, 
 sporting goods, and other merchandise, and is 
 carried on by his wife. He does quite a busi- 
 ness in the buying of Christmas-trees for the 
 New York market, shipping from six to ten 
 carloads annually. In 1893 he engaged in 
 the real estate business. He erected a large 
 buikling which he rents. He makes collections 
 for many concerns through the county, and 
 was appointed assignee for Willsey & Fromer, 
 one of the largest firms in this vicinity. As 
 local representative of several large insurance 
 companies, he has secured some of the prin- 
 cipal risks in the town. He has a great deal 
 of law practice in the n-iinor courts. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. Lackey was united in marriage 
 with Julia Weller, daughter of Thomas 
 Weller, formerly an inn-keeper in Birming- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 257 
 
 ham, England. They have five children — 
 Robert E., Charles H., Edward W., Mary L., 
 and Clara E. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Lackey is a Democrat. In 
 i8Sg he was appointed Deputy Sheriff, hold- 
 ing that office three years; and he was a can- 
 didate for Supervisor in i8gi. He was ap- 
 pointed Postmaster in 1893, and held that 
 position until 1898, giving general satisfac- 
 tion. He has been Counsel for the village 
 corporation ever since its organization, has 
 acted as notary public for the past fourteen 
 years, and is frequently called upon to address 
 political meetings. He is a member of the 
 Knights of Pythias, and Past Chancellor of 
 the local lodge. 
 
 ^TEPHEN LOUDON, a retired 
 ^/^ farmer of Fulton, Schoharie County, 
 was born in the town of Blenheim, 
 N.Y., February 16, 1821, son of John and 
 Sarah (Tinkelpaugh) Loudon. 
 
 John Loudon was born in Delaware, where 
 he grew to man's estate on the parental home- 
 stead. Choosing farming as his life occupa- 
 tion, he moved to Schoharie County, which 
 was then in its primitive wildness. He took 
 up a tract of land in Blenheim, at a time 
 when there were very few clearings in that 
 locality or in the county, and there partly im- 
 proved a farm. Disposing, however, of his 
 newly acquired land in Blenheim, he bought 
 land in the neighboring town of Gilboa, and 
 was there engaged in his independent calling 
 until his death, at the venerable age of eighty- 
 
 three years. His wife, whose maiden name 
 was Sarah Tinkelpaugh, died at the age of 
 fifty-nine years, having borne him ten chil- 
 dren. Four of the nine are still living, 
 namely: Mary, wife of John Mattice; 
 Stephen; Libby, wife of Jacob I. Coons; and 
 Nancy. Both parents were members of the 
 Baptist church. 
 
 Stephen Loudon, by persevering industry 
 and wise economy, accumulated considerable 
 property, and while yet a young man pur- 
 chased a farm in Breakabeen, which he after- 
 ward sold, and bought a large farm on Bouck's 
 Island, adjoining the Governor Bouck home- 
 stead. Upon that farm he resided until 1894, 
 when he bought his present home property, 
 which is managed by his son-in-law, C. li. 
 Markham, in connection with his own farm. 
 Mr. Loudon has always been deeply interested 
 in the welfare and advancement of the town of 
 his adoption. In politics he is a firm sup- 
 porter of the principles of the Democratic 
 party. 
 
 On August 31, 1846, Mr. Loudon married 
 Lavinia VVhaley, who is a native of Dutchess 
 County, New York, and is the only living 
 child born to the late Daniel and Sarah (Car- 
 penter) Whaley. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Loudon have three daughters, 
 namely: Caroline, wife of Prof. C. E. Mark- 
 ham, teacher and farmer of P"ulton; Emma, 
 wife of George Coykendall; and Mary, wife of 
 Peter E. Schoonmaker, both of whom are suc- 
 cessful business men in Kingston, N. V. 
 These daughters are all graduates of the State 
 Normal School, and were all of them teachers 
 
258 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in their younger clays. ^Ir. Loudon is a 
 niemlier of the Baptist chureh, and Mrs. 
 Loudon belongs to the Refornietl church. 
 
 -ACOB FROMER, one of the most suc- 
 cessful business men in Tannersville, 
 N. Y., was born in Wittenberg, Ger- 
 many, October 14, 1849, son of Daniel and 
 Mary (Liepold) Fromer. His father, who 
 also was a native of Wittenberg, emigrated to 
 the United States in 1853. After his arrival 
 in this country Daniel Fromer followed the 
 trade of a chair-maker for a time, and then 
 turned his attention to farming, first in Jewett 
 and later in Tannersville, where he died at 
 seventy-two. His wife, Mary, who was a 
 native of Germany, was the mother of si.x chil- 
 dren, namely: Mary; Rosa; John, first (de- 
 ceased); Daniel, Jr.; Jacob; and John. Mary 
 married Leonard L. Woodard. Rosa became 
 the wife of Clarence Willsey. John keeps a 
 boarding-house. Daniel, Jr., is proprietor of 
 a hotel. Mrs. Mary L. Fromer died at the 
 age of seventy-one. The parents were mem- 
 bers of the I'resbyterian church. 
 
 Jacob Fromer acquired his education in the 
 schools of Jewett, and worked on the home 
 farm until he was nineteen years old, when he 
 went to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, going 
 thence to West Virginia, and later entering 
 mercantile business in Parkersburg, Va. 
 Disposing of his establishment there at the 
 end of eighteen months, he came to Hunter, 
 where he engaged in the express business and 
 also ran a stage to the Catskill. He aban- 
 
 doned this enterprise at the expiration of a 
 year and a half, and again entered mercantile 
 business, carrying on a general store under 
 the Cascade House for the same length of 
 time. He next erected a building si.xty by 
 sixty feet, and three stories high, adjoining 
 his present office, and, putting in a stock of 
 general merchandise, carried on business until 
 1892, when he sold out. He started in a 
 small way, but as his trade increased he was 
 forced to enlarge both his stock and floor 
 space in order to meet the demands of his pa- 
 trons. He transacted a business amounting 
 to over one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 dollars annually, and employed twelve assist- 
 ants. In 1893 he made a trip to Florida, 
 and upon his return in 1894 opened a sale and 
 livery stable here and another at I'^lka Park, 
 Hunter, both of which he has since conducted 
 successfully, also doing quite an extensive 
 business in the selling of carriages, sleighs, 
 robes, and harnesses. He keeps twenty 
 horses, antl at times has as many as thirty for 
 livery purposes. In connection with this he 
 is engaged in the real estate and insurance 
 business, and besides his stable and office he 
 has erected several dwelling-houses. 
 
 In 187s Mr. Fromer was united in marriage 
 with Susan Showers, a native of Hunter, 
 daughter of Michael Showers, a farmer of that 
 town. Her parents had a family of six 
 children, four daughters and two sons. Mrs. 
 Fromer's sisters are all married. 
 
 Mr. Fromer is a Republican in politics. 
 He was Supervisor continuously from 1893 to 
 1899, having with a few exceptions served 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 259 
 
 longer than any other member of the board; 
 and during his term of office he succeeded in 
 reducing tiie taxes. He was largely instru- 
 mental in securing the incorporation of the 
 village, and was trustee a number of years. 
 He and Mrs. Fromer are attendants of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and contribute 
 to the support of other denominations. 
 
 JOLOMON KELLEY was born Feb- 
 ruary 14, 1823, on the farm in 
 Princetown, N.Y., on which he now 
 resides, he being the owner thereof and de- 
 voting his energies to its improvement and 
 cultivation. Mis parents were Solomon and 
 Grace (Wingate) Kelley. His father was 
 born in Rotterdam, N.Y., and his mother in 
 Princetown. His paternal grandfather was 
 William Kelley, a Scotchman, whose occupa- 
 tion was that of a miller and a farmer. He 
 was an early settler in Rotterdam, but after- 
 ward resided in Princetown and in Duanes- 
 burg, and died in Mariaville. 
 
 Solomon Kelley, the elder, learned the car- 
 penter's trade, which he followed for several 
 years. Settling upon new land in Princetown 
 when a young man, he cleared the farm which 
 is now owned by his son, and erected the 
 buildings. An industrious farmer and a citi- 
 zen of worth, he gained the good will of his 
 neighbors by his many sterling qualities. In 
 politics he voted with the Whig party, and in 
 his religious belief he was a Presbyterian. 
 He was the father of ten children, five of 
 whom are living, namely: Solomon, the sub- 
 
 ject of this sketch; Robert; John; Samuel; 
 and Grace. The others were: William, An- 
 drew, Sally, Jane, and Mary A. 
 
 Solomon Kelley was reared at the home- 
 stead and educated in the district schools. 
 He has always resided at his birthplace, and 
 succeeding to its ownership he has made gen- 
 eral farming a profitable employment up to 
 the present time. He is still smart and ac- 
 tive, with the ability to perform a day's work 
 which would tire many younger men, his early 
 vigor giving no sign of decay. In politics he 
 is a Republican. He attends the Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 When twenty-seven years old Mr. Kelley 
 married for his first wife Evelyn Love. His 
 present wife was before marriage Nancy 
 Gregg. By his first marriage he has one son, 
 William, who is living at home. 
 
 ^AMES H. FLANAGAN, a prosperous 
 farmer of Tannersville, N.Y., ant! a 
 veteran of the Civil War, was born in 
 New York City, February 14, 1842, son of 
 Matthew and Margaret (Olwell) Flanagan. 
 He is a descendant of the O' Flanagans of Ire- 
 land. His great-grandfather Flanagan was 
 named Thomas, and his grandfather was Pat- 
 rick O'l'^lanagan. 
 
 Matthe\y Flanagan, son of Patrick, emi- 
 grated to America when a young man, first 
 settling in New York City. After his mar- 
 riage he came to this locality, where he 
 worked in a tannery for some time, and then 
 purchased a farm. Politically, he was a 
 
26o 
 
 ]!IO(]RAl'HICAL REVIEW 
 
 Democrat. He died at the age of sixty-eight. 
 His wife, Margaret, was a native of Irehmd. 
 She was a (iaiighter of John Olwell, a farmer, 
 who emigrated to the United States, and spent 
 his last years cm a farm in tlie vicinity of 
 Tannersville. Matthew ant! Margaret Mana- 
 gan were the parents of ten children, seven of 
 whom grew to maturity, and tive are now liv- 
 ing; namely, James H., Patrick, Alice, Kate, 
 and Rose. Patrick lives in Newark, N.J. 
 Alice married John Hoolahan, and resides in 
 Brooklyn. Rose married Patrick Gillooly, 
 and is also residing in Brooklyn. The 
 mother died at the age of fifty-si.x years. 
 
 James H. I'lanagan came to Tannersville 
 with his [jarents when very yonng, and at- 
 tended the common schools. At the age of 
 twenty, in 1862, he enlisted in Company G, 
 Fourteenth United States Infantry. In the 
 second battle of Bull Run he was severely 
 wounded in the leg, and he lay upon the field 
 for ten days unattended. He was then taken 
 to Washington, and after being in various 
 hospitals was discharged in 1863. Ujion re- 
 covering from the effects of his wound he re- 
 enlisted in the Cavalry, Independent Corps, 
 and was stationed on the frontier, where he 
 served three years. He was mustered out as 
 a Corporal. Returning to Tannersville, he 
 worked on his father's farm for two years, at 
 the end of which time he went to Wisconsin, 
 anil from there to .St. Clair County, Illinois, 
 where he remained one and a half years. He 
 then returned East, and, again settling in 
 Tannersville, has followed farming with good 
 results ever since. His property originally 
 
 consisted of one hundred and fifty acres, but 
 he disposed of one hundred acres to good ad- 
 vantage. In politics he is a Republican, and 
 served as Excise Commissioner some time. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Flanagan married Miss Mary 
 I'^ Smith, ot Brooklyn, daughter of Patrick 
 Smith, a member of the police force of that 
 city. They have four chiklren — Eileen, 
 Fairie, Utja l",ideen Desmond, and Oscar, 
 luleen and l'"airie are now prejiaring them- 
 selves for educational work. 
 
 Mr. Flanagan is a comrade of A. N. Bald- 
 win Post, G. A. R. He is an earnest advo- 
 cate of temperance, and has rendered valuable 
 service to the community in that direction. 
 The family attend the Roman Catholic 
 church. Mr. P'lanagan from childhooil has 
 shown a marked liking for literature, and he 
 has a fine librar}' containing books by some of 
 the very best authors. He is also very fonil 
 of music, and has a choice collection of in- 
 strumental and classical musical works. 
 
 'S^OHN BRADT, a retired farmer of Rot- 
 terdam, was born in this town, Octo- 
 ber f), 1839, son of Aaron I. antl I<;iiza 
 C. (\'edder) Hradt. The ])arents were natives 
 of Schenectady ; and the father was a pros[ier- 
 ous farmer of Rotterdam, where he s]x'nt the 
 greater part of his life. He died at the age of 
 fift\'-eight years, and his wife lix'cd to be 
 ninety-one. They were the parents of five 
 children, two of whom are living, namely: 
 John, the subject of this sketch; and Aar(jn 
 
JOHN liRADT. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 263 
 
 ]5. , who resides in Schenectady. The others 
 were: Francis, Hester, and Helen. 
 
 John liradt ac(|iiired liis education in the 
 common schools of his native town. After the 
 completion of his studies he assisted his father 
 in carrying on the home farm, thereby obtain- 
 ing a good knowledge of agriculture; and in 
 early manhood he and his brothers, Aaron ]?. 
 and Francis, jiurchased their sister's interest 
 in tlie old homestead farm, which contained 
 about one hundred and si.xty acres, located 
 along the banks of the Mohawk Ri\-er. This 
 they carried on successfully together till 
 Aaron sold his interest. After that the farm 
 was managed by John and I'rancis until 1SS9. 
 In that year Mr. John Bradt retired, and built 
 a handsome residence in the village, which he 
 has since occupied, the industry displayed dur- 
 ing his long period of activity having placed 
 him in easy circumstances. It is interesting 
 here to note that the ancestral farm has been 
 handed down from his grandfather to the fourth 
 generation, being now owned by Mr. ]5radt's 
 nephew, Aaron J. Bradt, son of Francis above 
 named. 
 
 On December 28, 1871, Mr. Bi'adt was 
 united in marriage with Fleanor Dorn, who 
 was born in Princetown, August 3, 1847, 
 daughter of Alexander and Harriet Dorn. 
 tier father, who was a stirring farmer of 
 Duanesburg, died at the age of sixty-one 
 years. He was an active member of the 
 Dutch Reformed church and for more than 
 forty years an Elder. Mrs. Dorn is still liv- 
 ing, and resides in Duanesburg. 
 
 In politics Mr. Bradt is a Republican, but 
 
 takes ]io part in public affairs beyond casting 
 his vote. He has been a Deacon of the Re- 
 formed church for the past eight years, and 
 Mrs. 15radt is a member of the church. 
 
 ENJAMIN I. TAEEMADGE, the 
 well-kniiwn attorney and comisellor- 
 at-law of Windham, N.Y. , is a na- 
 tive of New lialtimore, (ireene County, and 
 was born on November i, 1869, his parents 
 being Thomas D. and Helen (Raymond) Tall- 
 madge. Thomas D. Tallmadge's paternal 
 grandfather, who was a leading farmer of 
 Greene County, died before Benjamin I. was 
 born. 
 
 Thomas D. Tallmadge spent his life on a 
 farm until he was a middle-aged man, when he 
 opened a general merchandise store. After 
 carrying that on for several years, he removed 
 with his family to Albaii}', his son Benjamin 
 being then about fourteen years old. Later 
 Thomas D. Tallmadge removed to Oneonta, 
 where he for a time conducted an ice business 
 and afterward a market. He retired from busi- 
 ness in (Jneonta, and subsecjuently resided 
 there until his death, in June, 1893, at the 
 age of sixty-three. He was stanchly a Demo- 
 crat, but never took an active interest in local 
 politics. His wife, Helen, was the daughter of 
 John G. and I'llizabeth Hinman Raymond, of 
 Coxsackie. Mr. Raymond, who had resided in 
 New Baltimore jirevious to coming to Cox- 
 sackie, was a large real estate owner. He 
 died at Coxsackie in his seventy-ninth year. 
 Of his seven children one son, Wallace W., 
 
264 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 wild is a merchant, resides at Coxsackic. 
 lioth he and his wife were Presbyterians. 
 Thomas I), and Helen Tallm;uii;e were the 
 parents of eleven children, all of whom are 
 living. They are as follows: Raymond, who is 
 book-keeper and general manager for V'an Slyke 
 & Horton, of Albany; Alice A. ; Josiah C, an 
 attorney at Catskill ; Elizabeth; Edward C, 
 who is in the enipinx- of the John G. Myers 
 firm in Albany; Matilda, who is the wife of 
 the Rev. -Samuel W. ICaton, pastor of the 
 Methodist l^piscopal church at Patter, Pa. ; 
 Thomas D., an artist residing in New York 
 City; Caroline; Penjamin I.; Mae; and R. 
 DeW'itt, who was a member of the P'irst New 
 York \'(il iiiiteers in the late war. The mother 
 of these children is still living in Oneonta, and 
 her four daughters reside with her. She and 
 her two youngest daughters are members of the 
 Baptist church, while Alice and Elizabeth are 
 connected with the Methodist church. The 
 family is remarkable for its musical ability, 
 and all four of the daughters have sung in 
 church choirs. Edward C. Tallmadge also, who 
 is a member of the First Reformed Church, 
 has sung in the choir. He is likewise a mem- 
 ber of the Consistory. 
 
 Benjamin 1. Tallmadge resided with his 
 ]:arents until he was about si.xteen years of 
 age. After attending the public schools of 
 New Baltimore, he began a special course in 
 Windham prejwratory to studying law, which 
 enabled him to secure what is known as a law 
 student's ceitificatc from the Board of Regents 
 in Albany. He entered the office of his 
 brother, the lion. J. C. Tallmadge, who was 
 
 then practising in Windham, and there he re- 
 mained until his admission to the bar in 1893. 
 Immediatel)' upon his admission to the bar he 
 formed a partnership with his brother, under 
 the firm name of J. C. & ]5. \. Tallmadge, and 
 this continued until I'cbruary, 1897, since 
 which time he has been in business alone. 
 
 'Phe Hon. Josiah C. Tallmadge, who is now 
 a leading attorney in Catskill, began his prac- 
 tice in Windham in 1875, having previously 
 studied here with his uncle, luigene Raymond, 
 who started in practice here over forty years 
 ago. From 1890 to 1893 the Hon. J. C. 
 Tallmadge was District Attorney of Greene 
 County, and during that time was engaged in 
 some notable criminal trials. He was one of 
 the attorneys in the Poring Robertson case, 
 which is one of the most celebrated, not only 
 in the county, but in the State. His success 
 in winning this for his client won for him 
 great praise. Tallmadge brothers were for 
 several years the only attorneys in Windham. 
 
 Mr. Tallmadge was married in 1894 to Rose 
 B. (iraham, who was born in this town, the 
 daughter of Lucius S. and Phcebe (Bump) 
 Graham, the father a well-known shoe dealer. 
 Both I\lr. and Mrs. Graham are deceased, the 
 former at the age of si.\ty-nine and the latter 
 at the age of fifty-five. They were active 
 members of the P-piscopal church. Their four 
 children are: Mrs. Tallmadge, who is the 
 eldest; I'-lla, who married L. H. Townsend ; 
 Margaret R. ; and Edwin. Mr. and Mrs. Tall- 
 madge have one child, a daughter Dorothy, 
 aged two \'ears. 
 
 Mr. Tallmadge is, as was his father, a 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 265 
 
 Democrat, but lie does not engage actively in 
 politics. He is a Mason and member of 
 Mountain Lodge, No. 529. Roth he and his 
 wife are members of the Presbyterian church, 
 and he is treasurer of the Board of Trustees, 
 leader of the choir, and an active worker in the 
 Sunday-school. Mrs. Tallmadge is the church 
 organist. Mr. Tallmadge was one of the or- 
 ganizers of the Windham Water Company, and 
 he is now secretary and treasurer of the organ- 
 ization and one of its directors. 
 
 — ♦-*••-♦— 
 
 LBKRT CHASE, a well-known 
 farmer of Hensonville, was born in 
 Lexington, January 4, 18 19, son of 
 Benjamin and Lydia (Skiff) Chase. Tlie 
 family is of English descent. Thomas and 
 Aquila Chase, brothers, emigrated from Eng- 
 land, and were living at Hampton, N. H., as 
 early as 1640. A few years later Aquila re- 
 moved to Newbury, Mass. "A large majority 
 of the Chases of the L^nited States," some one 
 has said, "arc his descendants." Thomas 
 Chase married Elizabeth Pliilbrick, and had 
 five sons. The fourth son, Isaac, removed to 
 Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Mass. He was 
 twice married, and had a number of children. 
 " Benjamin Chase, the father abo\-e men- 
 tioned, was a son of Zephaniah Chase, and 
 both were natives of RLartha's Vineyard. 
 Zephaniah Chase, the grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, came to Lexington as a pio- 
 neer. He cleared a large tract of land, and 
 spent the rest of his life there, dying at the 
 age of eighty. 
 
 Benjamin Chase resided on the home farm 
 for some years. Later he purchased a farm 
 near l)y, where he spent the rest of his life. 
 His death also occurred at eighty years. When 
 a young man he was an officer of the militia. 
 His wife, Lydia, who, like himself, was a 
 native of Martha's Vineyard, became the 
 mother of ten children, nine of whom grew to 
 maturity, and two are now living, namely: Al- 
 bert, of Hensonville; and Ira, who resides in 
 Jewett. The others were; Benjamin, who 
 lived in Lexington, and died aged ninety- 
 three; Elizabeth, who resided on the old home- 
 stead, and died at eighty years of age; Lydia, 
 who married Orin Burgess, of Hunter, and died 
 at the age of si.xty; William, who died in 
 Ohio at eighty; Lucinda, who married Mathias 
 Chittenden, and resided in Callicoon, Sullivan 
 County, where her death occurred when she 
 was sixty years old; Mary, who became the 
 wife of Samuel Cook, of Sidney, Delaware 
 County, and died at the age of sixty; and 
 Sarah, who became Mrs. I'eleg Cliamberlain, 
 resided in Michigan, and died at the .same aa-e. 
 The mother died in 1827, at the age of fifty. 
 
 Albert Chase in his early childhood attended 
 the common schools of Lexington. He resided 
 at home until the death of his mother, when, 
 a lad of eight years, he went to live with an 
 uncle in Jewett, about two miles l)eIow Hunter 
 village. At the age of twenty he returned to 
 Lexington and learned the carpenter's trade, 
 which he followed for about twenty-five year.s, 
 becoming one of the largest contractors in this 
 .section of the county. He erected many pri- 
 vate residences, business blocks, mills, bridges. 
 
266 
 
 BIOGRArmCAL REVIF.W 
 
 and other structures, cnipl(ning a number of 
 men. lie came to Ilensonville in 1S45, 
 when this village was in its infancy, and did 
 an extensive business here, erecting many of 
 the present buildings. I'urchasing a saw- 
 mill in 1863, he carried on a large lumber 
 business for some years. He removed to his 
 present farm, consisting of three hundred acres, 
 in 1S58, erected his dwelling-house and other 
 buildings, and, relinquishing his contracting 
 business a few years later, gave his principal 
 attention to farming. Since 1880 his son, De 
 Mont, has had charge of the cultivation of the 
 home acres. Mr. Chase and his sou have pur- 
 chased two additional farms, one being devoted 
 to dairy purposes, and they keeji twenty-seven 
 cows, mostlv Jerse\s. 
 
 In 1844 Mr. Chase was united in marriage 
 with Miss Laura O. Woodworth, of Windham, 
 daughter of .\bner and ]5etse\' (Judson) Wood- 
 worth, ller father, who was a native of 
 Cherry Valley, and followed farming during 
 his active jK-riod, spent his last days in Hast 
 Jewett, dying at the age of eighty-two years. 
 Her mother, who was born in Windham, died 
 at the age of forty-eight. Mr. and Mrs. 
 VVoodworth reared a famih' of si.\ children, 
 (^f these the three living are: Laura, who is 
 now Mrs. Chase; Lucius, who resides in 
 LIunter; and Lucinda, who is the wife of Dr. 
 Mead. Mr. and Mrs. Chase ha\e had tue chil- 
 dren — Sophronia, Lydia, Abner, lunery, and 
 De .Mont L. Chase. .Sophronia died of diph- 
 theria at the age of seventeen. Lydia, who is 
 no longer living, married Cyrus Kloodgood, 
 clerk of Catskill County. Abner died at the 
 
 age of two years. Emory, formerly a member 
 of the law firm of Hallock, Jennings & Chase, 
 later Jennings & Chase, was elected Judge of 
 the Supreme Court in 1896. He married 
 Mary Churchill, daughter of the proprietor of 
 St. Charles Hotel, of New York, and has two 
 children — Jessie C. and Albert W. Chase. 
 De Mont L. Chase is now associated with his 
 father in carr\ing on the farm. lie h;is served 
 as Supervisor and Tax Collector. He married 
 Josephine Osborn, daughter of h'.lbert Osborn, 
 of Brooklyn, and has two children — Leona L. 
 and Elbert O. Chase. 
 
 Mr. Chase is a Republican in politics. He 
 has been Overseer of the Poor, and has acted 
 as Justice of the Peace for four years. He is 
 connected with the Order of Good Templars, 
 al.so with the .Suns of Temperance, and has 
 filled some of the im])ortant chairs in these so- 
 cieties. He is a member of the .Methodist 
 Episcopal church, of which lie has been trus- 
 tee, steward, and class leader for many years. 
 He has also been district steward, was a mem- 
 ber of the building committee which erected 
 the new church, ami served as trustee of the 
 parsonage. He was formerly superintendent of 
 the Sunday-school, and Mrs. Chase was a 
 teacher. 
 
 l.l.l.X.M S. VAX1)I:RP1LT, a rep- 
 resentative citizen of the village of 
 Greenville, was born in New York City on 
 February 10, 1845, his parents being William 
 S. and Susan A. (Wright) X'anderhilt. He 
 belongs to a famih- '.hat has for many years 
 been prominent in Rockland County. His 
 
>.£ 
 
 wmf 
 
 b>' 
 
 ■\ 
 
 WILLIAM S. VANDEKBILT. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 269 
 
 great-grandfather .settled in Clarkstown, in 
 that county, when a young man, and resided 
 there on a farm during the remainder of his 
 life. His grandfather, Isaac Vanderbilt, was 
 born in Clarkstown, and spent his life there 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 
 William S. Vanderjjilt, Sr. , son of Isaac 
 and father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 also born on the homestead, but at the age of 
 fifteen he left the parental roof and learned the 
 merchant tailor's trade. At twenty-one he 
 began business for himself in New York City, 
 and subsequently for twenty-seven years con- 
 ducted it most successfully. His store was at 
 416 and later at 408 Broadway, and his was 
 one of the best-known tailoring establishments 
 in the city. He died on February 13, 1864, 
 being only forty-eight years of age. His wife, 
 Susan, who died in 1893, at the age of si.xty- 
 nine, was born in Greenwich village, now a 
 part of New York City, and spent the whole of 
 her life in the great metropolis. She was the 
 daughter of Charles S. Wright, who was for 
 many years one of the most influential mem- 
 bers of the School Board of Trustees of the 
 Ninth Ward in the city of New York, and for 
 a long time its chairman. At one time Mr. 
 Wright was waited upon by a committee to see 
 if he would accept the nomination to the legis- 
 lature. Mr. Wright declined the honor. He 
 lived, about 1824, in the house in Greenwich 
 village which his father had built. It was then 
 out in the country, and the canal wound its 
 sluggish way through what is now Canal Street. 
 
 William S. , Sr. , and Susan Vanderbilt, had 
 eight children, of whom four are now living; 
 
 namely, William S., Oliver DeGray, Jolm, 
 and Mrs. George W. \'anderhoef. Mrs. Van- 
 derbilt, after the death of her first husband, 
 married Andrew Hoogland, a prominent and 
 well-to-do citizen of New York, and one of the 
 best-known members of the New York Produce 
 Exchange. Mr. Hoogland was born on May 
 20, 1815, and died in 1879. Me was a direc- 
 tor in the Corn Exchange Bank, and of the 
 New Amsterdam Insurance Company, and for 
 many years a member of St. Andrew's Curling 
 Club, its president in 1873 and 1874, and at 
 one time president of the National Curling 
 Club. He also represented the St. Andrew's 
 of New York City at the national convention 
 at Toronto in 1873. To the last-named club he 
 gave a fine flag. He held membership in the 
 Dutch church, and was one of its active and 
 liberal supporters. At one time he was a mem- 
 ber of the Seventh Regiment of militia, and 
 later a member of the Victorian Association. 
 
 William S. Vanderbilt, the subject of this 
 sketch, lived in New York City until 1871, 
 when he took up his residence in Greenville. 
 He boarded in different families for a number 
 of years, but in 1S88 began buying land, and 
 the following year built his present handsome 
 residence. He owns a number of fine farms, 
 including what are known as the Eewis Sher- 
 rill and Prevost farms. Mr. Vanderbilt is 
 one of Greenville's most public-spirited citi- 
 zens, and has shown this in man}- ways. He 
 built in the village a beautiful opera house, 
 and gave a great stimulus to the introduction 
 of water in the town by ]ilacing it in all of his 
 buildings. 
 
270 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mr. Vandcibilt married in 1876 Miss Mary 
 J. Ilickok, of this town, a descendant of one 
 of the old and leading families. .She died at 
 the age of thirt\-three, leaving one daughter, 
 Lizzie II. Vandcrbilt. On November 14, 
 1888, Mr. Vandcrbilt married Mary Reed, 
 daughter of John K. and Ann (.Shcrrill) Cha])- 
 man. Iter father was born at Salisbury, 
 Conn. While yet a mere lad his father, Rob- 
 ert I-., moved to the vicinity of Greenville, 
 where he died in 1857, eighty-two years old. 
 Mrs. Vanderbilt's father was an early gold 
 hunter on the Pacific Coast, going to Cali- 
 fornia by the way of the Isthmus of Panama in 
 1849. After acquiring considerable money for 
 those days, he returned to Greenville, was 
 married, and shortly after went to Jane.sville, 
 Wis., where with a brother, he engaged in 
 the dry-goods business. Here his daughter 
 Mary was born. He returned to Greenville in 
 1865, residing there until his death in 1888, 
 at the age of seventy years. His wife, Mrs. 
 Vanderbilt's mother, was the daughter of 
 Lewis Shcrrill, a descendant of one of the pio- 
 neer families of the town. Her grandfather, 
 Jonathan Shcrrill, had extensive tanneries. 
 One of them was located on the corner where 
 Coonleys Hotel now stands. Jonathan Shcr- 
 rill built and occupied the house that is now 
 the residence of Dr. 15. S. McCabe. His 
 home at the time of his death was the house on 
 North Street owned by Charles R. Knowlcs, 
 of Albany (a grandson), and used as a summer 
 residence. He died in 1S51, in his eighty- 
 .second year. 
 
 Lewis Shcrrill, for many years president of 
 
 the old Greenville Academy, was a broad- 
 gauge public-spirited man. He was a success- 
 ful farmer and stock-raiser, a life-member of 
 the New York State Agricultural Society, and 
 the first president of the Greene County Agri- 
 cultural Society. The stone walks about the 
 village, among other things, are largely the 
 result of his energy and push. He died in 
 March, 1889, at the age of eight}'-eight. His 
 wife, Plsther I'ord, died in 1873, at the age of 
 si.xty years. Mr. and Mrs. Vandcrbilt have 
 two children living, the elder being William 
 Stephen, and the younger George Vanderhoef 
 Vandcrliilt. 
 
 In politics Mr. X'anderbilt is a Ke]niblican, 
 and some years ago he was very active in all 
 political matters. He is a member of James 
 M. Austin Lodge, I'. & A. M., of which he 
 has been treasurer for a number of years, and 
 he holds membershi]) in the Royal Arch ("haiv 
 tcr, of Greenville. He is also a charter mem- 
 ber of the Knights <if Pythias organization 
 here. He is warden and treasurer of the Epis- 
 copal church, and treasurer of Greenville Lire 
 District. 
 
 \^ 
 
 AGh: T. HOAGLAND, editor and 
 ^'^ proprietor of the Kicorci, Oak Hill, 
 was born in Malugin's Grove, near 
 Di.xon, Lee County, 111-, March 23, 1856, .son 
 of Abram .Mien and luuiice L. (Hloodgood) 
 Hoagland. He is of the eighth generation in 
 descent from Chiistophal Hoageland, who was 
 born in Ildllaiul in i''i34, emigrated to Amer- 
 ica about the )-ear 1654, and settled in New 
 Amsterdam. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 271 
 
 From Christiiphal the ancestral line is traced 
 tlirough his eldest son, Christopher,- who was 
 born in the vicinity of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; John,' 
 who was born in Flatlands, N.J., in 1701, and 
 died in 1767; Jacob Hoageland,-* born in Har 
 binger, N.J., in 1735; Abraham Hoogland,' 
 who was born in Sowerland, New Harbinger, 
 Somerset County, N.J., about the year 1773; 
 Benoni Hoogland,'' who was born in Gilboa, 
 N. Y. , February 25, 1796; and Abram Allen 
 Hoagland,'' who was born in Gilboa in 1S31; 
 to Page T. Hoagland,'^ the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Jacob Hoageland resided in New Jersey 
 until after tlie settlement of his father's estate, 
 when he came to New York, and, after sojourn- 
 ing for a time in Schoharie County, went from 
 there to Albany Count}', where he passed the 
 rest of his life. Abraham Hoogland, of the 
 fifth generation, accompanied his parents to 
 Gilboa in 1785. Remarried Polly M. Fraser, 
 daughter of Benoni Fraser, who was one of the 
 earliest settlers in Schoharie County and a 
 Revolutionary soldier. On September 11, 
 18 1 7, Benoni Hoogland, the grandfather, mai- 
 ried Katy Shoemaker, who was born August 
 29. I79i> daughter of Jacob Shoemaker. 
 Grandfather Hoogland died May 25, 1867, and 
 the grandmother died May 27, 1868. They 
 were the parents of nine children, two sons 
 and seven daughters, and five of their family 
 are now living. 
 
 About the year 1854 Abram Allen Hoag- 
 land, Mr. Page T. Hoagland's father, removed 
 from New York to Illinois, where he followed 
 his occupation of carpenter and joiner for a 
 
 short time. Then going from there to Eau 
 Claire, Wis., he purchased a farm of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres adjoining the town site. 
 Two years later he returned to New York, and 
 fnjm 1859 to 1866 resided in Ashland and 
 Jewett, Greene County. After the close of 
 the Civil War he again went to Illinois. He 
 located in Rockford, and resuming his trade 
 remained there until shortly after the death of 
 his father, in 1S68, when he came to Gilboa to 
 care for his mother, who died suddenly within 
 the following year. The ne.\t two years he 
 spent upon a farm in Johnson Hollow, town of 
 Roxbury, , N. Y., and in 1870 removed to 
 Oneonta, this State, where he was employed 
 in the car-shops of the Albany & Susquehanna 
 Railroad Company. He next settled in Bing- 
 hamton on a leased farm, which he carried on 
 until 1876 ; and the year after he cultivated the 
 G. H. Bloodgood farm in Conesville. He 
 then came to Oak Hill, followed his trade here 
 for two years; and in 1879 he returned to 
 Conesville, occupying the Hawvcr farm for 
 about one year. Removing to Superior, Neb., 
 in 1880, he resided there some years. He is 
 now living upon a large farm in Oak Hill. 
 His first wife, Eunice E. , whom he married in 
 1854, was a daughter of Abraham Bloodgood. 
 Her father, who was a tanner, spent most of 
 his life in Jewett, and her mother was a repre- 
 sentative of the Tower family of New P'ngland. 
 It is said that some of her ancestors came over 
 in the "Mayflower." Abram Allen Hoag- 
 land's first wife died in 1894, at fifty-nine 
 years of age. The maiden name of his second 
 wife was Eugenia Brand Lynam. He is the 
 
272 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL KEVIKW 
 
 father of two children, both by his first wife: 
 Page T. , the subject of this sketch; and Edith 
 G., who married William J. Winn, of Bridge- 
 port, Conn. 
 
 Page T. Iloagland came from Wisconsin to 
 Greene Count)' with his ])arents when about 
 three yeai's old. His cihicatioiial opjiortuni- 
 ties were confined to the schools of the various 
 localities in which he lived U]) to 1S70, when 
 he became a jitipil in the Onconta graded 
 school, under the supervision of Professor 
 N. N. ]5iill. lie was graduated in 1S72, and 
 immediately entered the store of ]^. (loldsmith 
 as a clerk. Afterward he worked for Joseph 
 and Morris Price in the same caj^acity, and 
 later for Miller & Pojie, dealers in flour and 
 provisions. He taught school in Sullivan 
 County (hu'ing the ensuing winter, and then, 
 joining his lather on the farm at Binghamton, 
 he remained there the following season. In 
 the fall of i<S79, having previously taught 
 schools in Conesville and Rensselaerville, he 
 entered the store of Hagadorn Brothers, Gil- 
 boa. A year later he went to -Superior, Neb., 
 antl, after being employed as a clerk during the 
 fall and winter of 1880 and iXSi, he in the 
 spring became a caw-boy, and remained on 
 the ranch until July of that year, when he went 
 to Plattsmouth, Neb., twenty miles below 
 Omaha. Failing to find employment in the 
 city stores, he worked in a brick-vard until, 
 through the influence of a friend, he obtained 
 a subordinate position upon the clerical force 
 of the Burlington & Mis.souri River Railroad. 
 In 1883 lie was ajipointed assistant station 
 agent on the Chicago, Burlington & (Jninc)' 
 
 Railroad at Pacific lunction, la., resigning in 
 January, 1884, in order to take the position of 
 manager of the loss and damage department of 
 the Burlington & Missouri Railroad at their 
 headquarters in Omaha. He continued to serve 
 in that cajjacity until the ensuing fall, when 
 he was forced b)- ill health to return to (iilboa. 
 In March, 1885, he purchased of II. V. 
 Jones the Jefferson (N.Y. ) Courier, which he 
 conducted for over three years, selling in Au- 
 gust, 1 888, to George M. Proper, of Eminence, 
 N. \'. He next jiurchased the Monitor, a paper 
 published in (iilboa, which he carried on until 
 
 1893, when he ilisposed of it to Berton G. 
 Griffin, and coming to Oak Hill in the spring 
 of 1894 establi.shed the Rfcor,/, which he has 
 conducted successfull\- ever since. He has a 
 well-equi])petl plant w^ith amiile facilities for 
 handling the constantly increasing circulation 
 of his paiier, anil his advertising de])artmcnt is 
 both popular and profitable. 
 
 In June, 1882, Mr. Hoagland was united in 
 marriage with l-'rances Stryker, daughter of 
 Abraham .Str\ker, of Gilboa. She died in 
 
 1894, at the age of thirt}'- seven, ha\'iiig been 
 the mother of seven children. Of these, five 
 are living — Scott R., Hazel C, (Juy W., 
 Cecil A., and Ellen F. On September 4, 
 
 1895, he married for his second wife Ella 
 Cherritree, daughter of Walter S. Cherritree, 
 a native of Durham and prominently identified 
 with the foundry interests of Oak Hill. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hoagland is a Reiniblican, 
 and during his residence in Jefferson he served 
 as Town Clerk and as School Trustee. He 
 serveil in the same cajjacity in (iilboa, where 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 =73 
 
 he was candidate for Supervisor in 1893, and 
 was again his party's candidate for Town Clerk 
 in 1 898. He has been a member of the Repub- 
 lican County Committee since 1896. He was 
 made a Mason at Jefferson in Working Lodge, 
 No. 554, F. & A. M., of which he was Junior 
 Warden for two years. In 1889 he was de- 
 mitted to (lilboa Lodge, No. 630, of which he 
 served as secretary four years. He is now a 
 member of Cascade Lodge, No. 427, Oak Hill. 
 In 1S92 he joined l^lenheim Lodge, No. 651, 
 I. O. O. F. , from which he withdrew to be- 
 come a charter member of Lyman Treniaine 
 Lodge, No. 265, Oak Hill, of which he was 
 treasurer for the years 1896 and 1897, and was 
 chosen Vice-Grand in 1898. He was made 
 Noble Grand January i, 1899, serving until 
 July I of the same year. During this year he 
 was recommended to the Grand Lodge as sec- 
 retary to the Grand Committee, District of 
 Greene. He is also a member of Middleburg 
 Fncampment, No. 129, and Valley Chapter, 
 No. 38, Order of the Eastern Star. At the 
 age of fourteen he was confirmed by Bishop 
 Doane, of Albany, and has served as vestry- 
 man of the ICpiscopal church. lulucational 
 and literary matters have absorbed his leisure 
 time, and he has a well-selected library of 
 standard works. 
 
 [LDA B. CHAPMAN, wife of J. P. Chap- 
 man, of Plast Cobleskill, Schoharie 
 County, N. Y. , and a prominent worker in the 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union, was 
 born at Bramanville, in the town of Cobleskill, 
 
 on April 9, 1852, her parents being Nelson 
 and Catherine M. (Braman) Bice. Her family 
 is of Dutch origin, a representative of it com- 
 ing from Holland in 1657, and .settling in New 
 York when it was called New Amsterdam. 
 The name was originally spelled Buys, as it 
 still is in Holland. 
 
 Mrs. Chapman's paternal grandfather, Joshua 
 Bice, who was a farmer and later a merchant, 
 settled on land in East Cobleskill. He was a 
 man of strong Christian character, and for 
 si.xty-two years was an earnest and devoted 
 member of the Methodist church. He was the 
 fir.st member of the church here. At the age 
 of seventy-four years he handed in the class- 
 book that he had used in the many years when 
 he had held the position of class leader, .saying 
 he was too old to attend to it any longer. 
 
 Mrs. Chapman's father. Nelson Bice, was 
 born at East Cobleskill, where his daughter 
 now resides. He lived in this county nearly 
 all his life, and for the nine years preceding 
 his death he lived on this place. He was a 
 farmer by occupation. F"or six years, while 
 residing in Middleburg, he served as Assessor 
 of the town, being nominated to the office by 
 acclamation. In politics iie was a Democrat. 
 At the age of twenty-three he joined the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, and from that time 
 until his death, in 1S80, he was one of its 
 faithful members. F'or many years he held 
 the office of superintendent of the Sunday- 
 school, for eight years that of class leader, and 
 for many years he was one of the church trus- 
 tees. He served his townspeople as school 
 trustee for a number of years. His wife,. 
 
274 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Catherine, was born in ]?ramanvillc, daughter 
 of John W. Braman. Ilcr grandfather, Will- 
 iam iJraman, was an I^nglishman; and his 
 wife, whose maiden name was De Lamater, 
 was half l'"rencli and part Dutcli, being a de- 
 scendant of the Rev. Everardus Bogardns and 
 his wife, Anneke Jans. John W. ]5raman 
 built a woollen-mill in Bramanvilie. The 
 place was named in his honor, and he was one 
 of its most highly valueil citizens. He was a 
 strong achocate of temperance. When at the 
 advanced age of seventy he taught the village 
 school in Bramanville. For twelve years he 
 was a Justice of the Peace. He married Eliz- 
 abeth VVetsell, daughter of Christopher Wet- 
 sell, a German who owned about a thousand 
 acres of land and a number of slaves. When 
 the State gave them freedom, some of Mr. 
 Wetsell's negroes remained with him, and 
 some of them accompanied Elizabeth Wetsell 
 when slie married and left home. 
 
 Mrs. Chapman's father was an ownei' in the 
 Wdiillen-niill built b\- her grandfather Biaman, 
 but when she was three years of age he re- 
 mcjved to East Worcester. There the family 
 lived for the next five years, at the end (if 
 which time they went to I'last Cobleskill. 
 Six years later they removed to Fultonham, 
 and after staying in that ])lace four j-ears they 
 returned to East Cobleskill, where Mrs. Chap- 
 man has since made her home. She attended 
 the district schools until she w'as si.xteen years 
 old, and was then sent to Schoharie Academy, 
 where she remaineil for some time, studying 
 academic branches and music. .She subse- 
 quently studied music with Miss Rankin, of 
 
 Middleburg. Her marriage occurred on Octo- 
 ber 25, iiS/i, and since that time she has 
 shown her ability not only in the administra- 
 tion of her domestic duties, but in various re- 
 sponsible pid)lic positions. In connection 
 with her efforts in behalf of the cause of tem- 
 perance she has been county superintendent 
 of the Sunday-school work of the Woman's 
 Christian Temperance Union. For twenty-one 
 years she was a teacher in the Sunday-school 
 of the Methodist church, of which she is a 
 member. 
 
 Mr. Chapman was born in Fulton, his [Kir- 
 ents being Jacob and Huldah (Winans) Chap- 
 man. His mother was the daughter of the 
 Rev. Mr. Winans, a Eajjtist minister. Mr. 
 Chapman is an enterprising farmer and a man 
 who commands universal esteem. He has 
 been twice elected Supervisor of the town of 
 Middleburg. 
 
 Mrs. Chajiman takes an active interest in the 
 advancement of agriculture, and has written 
 several valuable essays, which were read be- 
 fore the State Agricultural Society anil before 
 the State Dairymen's Association. .She has 
 also read papers before the county Sunday- 
 school conventions, and has been one of the 
 judges of awarti at two silver medal contests. 
 Mrs. Chajiman is the mother of three daugh- 
 ters — Lena May, Mildred IL, and Agnes E. 
 The first named is a graduate of the Cobleskill 
 High School antl of Syracuse University. 
 Mildred II. is a graduate of the Cobleskill 
 High School, and is now preparing to take a 
 course of study in S\-racuse University. 
 Agnes K. is ten vears of age. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 2/5 
 
 AUGUSTUS SNYDER, superintend- 
 ent of the Foltz summer home at 
 Cobleskill, N. Y. , near Warnersville, 
 was born in this town, October 6, 1844, son of 
 William and Rebecca (Bouck) Snyder. He is 
 of thrifty (jcrman ancestry, and a lineal de- 
 scendant of one of the original settlers of this 
 section of Schoharie County. 
 
 William Snyder, first, his great -great -grand- 
 father, emigrated from Germany in Colonial 
 times, and located on Helderberg Mountain, 
 near Albany, N.Y., but prior to the Revolu- 
 tion he came to Cobleskill, where he took up 
 a tract of wild land and began the improve- 
 ment of a homestead. In the ensuing struggle 
 for independence William Snyder took an ac- 
 tive part, serving as a soldier in the army until 
 the close of the war. The Uutheran church, 
 which was built by him, contained a tablet 
 bearing his name. 
 
 Peter W. Snyder, the grandfather of J. Au- 
 gustus, was born on the old Snyder homestead, 
 which later passed into his possession. He 
 was an industrious, energetic worker, and 
 added materially to the improvements on the 
 estate, erecting the jDresent comfortable set of 
 buildings. He married Catherine Warner, a 
 daughter of Nicholas Warner, who also was 
 one of the earliest Settlers of this part of Scho- 
 harie Count}', and formerly the owner of al- 
 most the whole of the present site of the 
 village of Warnersville. A man of good 
 understanding, interested in the cause of edu- 
 cation, Peter W. Snyder had the distinction of 
 being the first English school-teacher in this 
 valley. For many years he served as Justice 
 
 of the Peace; in 1826 and 1827 he was a mem- 
 ber of the Assembly; and was also one of the 
 first railway commissioners in this locality. 
 He died at a ripe old age in 1S50. Peter W. 
 Snyder and his wife were members of the 
 Lutheran church. Of their union seven chil- 
 dren were born. Mrs. Catherine W. Snyder 
 survived her husband a score or more of years, 
 attaining the venerable age of ninety-three. 
 
 Their son, William Snyder, second, was 
 born and reared on the old home farm, and 
 eventually succeeded to its ownership. He 
 carried it on successfully for many years, but 
 later sold it, and, buying a farm near by, there 
 spent his remaining days, dying at the age of 
 seventy-six years. In addition to general 
 farming he was extensively engaged in mill- 
 ing, and built the plant now known as Sny- 
 der's mills, a large mill having four runs of 
 stone, which is now operated by one of his 
 sons. He manufactured large quantities of 
 flour and made a specialty of custom grinding, 
 for years carrying on a lucrative business. 
 He was an uncompromising Democrat, influen- 
 tial in local affairs, and held many public 
 offices, being Supervisor five years, Excise 
 Commissioner eighteen years, and Justice of 
 the Peace a number of terms. He attended 
 the Lutheran church, and gave generously 
 toward its support. He was three times mar- 
 ried. His first wife, whose maiden name was 
 Diana Bouck, died at an early age, leaving two 
 children — George W. ami Margaret. George 
 W. attended Franklin and Schoharie Acade- 
 mies and Union College, after which he entered 
 West Point, where he was graduated at the 
 
fjd 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 head of his class in the L-ngiiiecr's department. 
 In 1858 he was appointed Second Lieutenant, 
 and he was afterward stationed at liitferent 
 points along the coast, including Boston, I'en- 
 sacola, Key West, Charleston (S. C. ), and Fort 
 Moultrie. In 1X61 he was ordered to Fort 
 Sumter, and while there was twice promoted, 
 first to the rani< of iMrst Lieutenant and then 
 Captain. He was suhsecpiently ])aroled for a 
 time, and on return inj;- to Washington was ap- 
 ])ointed as Aide de-camp to General Heintzel- 
 man, and was with him at the battle of Hull 
 Run. Taken sick with typhoid fever just 
 after the battle, he died November 17, 1861. 
 He had been brevetted Lieutenant Colonel. 
 As a soldier he was brave and courageous, 
 laithful in the performance of every duty. 
 The father's second wife, Lavina 15ouck, lived 
 but a few years. He subsequently married for 
 his third wife Rebecca l^ouck, who was born 
 in Cobleskill, a dau-hter of David J^ouck, and 
 a lineal descendant of Covernor Houck. She 
 l)ore him seven children, of whom three arc 
 now living; namely, J. Augustus, David B. , 
 and William. The mother died at the age of 
 fifty-eight years. 
 
 J. Augustus Snyder lived with his inirents 
 until si.xtcen years old, when he began life for 
 himself. While working with his father he 
 had learned the miller's trade, and he subse- 
 quently operated for five years a grist-mill that 
 his father bought in Hyndsville. He then 
 went West, and at Saginaw, Mich., he en- 
 gagetl in lailroad construction and lundiering 
 si.\ years. Returning hcjnie in 1S75, he en- 
 tered the mill now owneii by his brother. 
 
 David B. , and this he operated a few years. 
 After that he carried on a farm seven years, 
 selling out at the end of this period and remov- 
 ing to Richmondville, where he was engaged 
 as a retail grocer and niarketman for five years. 
 During the next si.\ years Mr. Snyder kept a 
 hotel, and shortly after .selling that property he 
 assumetl his ]iresent res|)onsible position as su- 
 perintendent of the I-"oltz place. Under his effi- 
 cient management marked improvements have 
 been made on the estate. The grounds have 
 been finely laiti out and beautified, and the 
 new house has been built, the homestead being 
 now one of the most attractive in the vicinity. 
 On Innc 26, 1882, Mi'. .Snytier married Miss 
 Mary O. Baker, who was born in Worcester, 
 Otsego Covmtv, N. \'., one of the six children 
 of Sherman S. ]5aker, a well-known cattle 
 dealer of that town. Politically, Mr. Snyder 
 is a straightforward Republican, interested in 
 jniblic matters, and while in ALchigan served 
 as Justice of the Peace. Fraternally, he is a 
 thirty-second degree Mason, prominent in the 
 order, and a member of Cobleskill Lodge, 
 F. & A. M. ; the John L. Lewis Chapter, 
 Cobleskill; St. (Jeorge's Conmiander)-, K. T., 
 of Schenectady ; and Teni]ile Consistory, No. 
 2, of Albany. He also belongs to Cobleskill 
 Lodge, No. 500, I. O. C). F. In religious 
 matters he is broad and liberal. 
 
 rsll"ON. LMORY ALBERT CHASK, of 
 Catskill, Justice of the Su])reme 
 Court for the Thinl Judicial Dis- 
 trict of New York, was born on August 31, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 2Ti 
 
 1854, at Hensonville, Greene County, N.Y. , 
 where his parents, Alhert and Laura (Wood- 
 worth) Chase, are still living. On the pater- 
 nal side he is of English descent, and on the 
 maternal of Scotch. 
 
 The ancestral home of the Chase family was 
 at Chesham, England. Thomas Chase, a 
 jjromincnt resident of Chesham, had a son 
 Richard, who married Joan 1-iishop at Chesham, 
 April 16, 1564. This couple had a son 
 Thomas, born at Chesham, \vho emigrated to 
 America about the year 1639, and settled at 
 Hampton, N. H. He married Elizabeth, a 
 daughter of Thomas Philbrick, and remained 
 in Hampton until his death in 1652. He had 
 a son Isaac, born April i, 1647, ^^ho 's com- 
 monly referred to as Lieutenant Isaac. This 
 son married for his second wife Mary Tilton, 
 and lived at Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vine- 
 yard. He died there. May ig, 1727, and is 
 buried on the hill overlooking the head of 
 Vineyard Haven. 
 
 Isaac Chase and his wife had a son Joseph, 
 born February 26, 16S9, who married Lydia 
 Coffin. Their first child, Abel, was born 
 October g, 1719. He married February 14, 
 1744, on Martha's Vineyard Island, Mercy 
 Mayhew. They had a son Zephaniah, born 
 March 14, 1748. He married for his first wife 
 Abigail Skiff. Zephaniah Chase was a mem- 
 ber of Captain Smith's seaport company during 
 the Revolutionary War. After the close of the 
 war and in the year 1787 he sold his proj^erty 
 in Vineyard Haven and migrated to the pres- 
 ent town of Lexington, Greene County, N. Y. , 
 then County of Albany. His son Benjamin, 
 
 born January 21, 1774, married Lydia Skiff, 
 and had a son Albert, born January 4, 18 19. 
 
 Albert Chase and Laura O. VVoodworth were 
 married on September i, 1844. They have 
 two sons, namely: Demont L., of Hensonville, 
 N.Y. ; and Emory A., of Catskill, the special 
 subject of this biography. Albert Chase was 
 engaged for many years in contracting, build- 
 ing, and lumbering. Since retiring he has 
 lived on a farm. 
 
 Most of the early life of Judge Chase was 
 spent on his father's farm. He attended the 
 public school at Hensonville, and continued 
 his studies at the Foit luhvard Collegiate In- 
 stitute, but did not graduate. He was fitted 
 for the legal profession in the office of King & 
 Hallock (Rufus H. King and Joseph Hallock) 
 at Catskill. In April, 1S80, he became inter- 
 ested in the firm of Hallock & Jennings; and 
 in 1882 he became one of its members, the 
 firm name being changed to Hallock, Jennings 
 & Chase. After Mr. Hallock's retirement, 
 September 22, i8go, the business was con- 
 tinued under the style of Jennings & Chase 
 until December, 1896, when it was dissolved 
 in consequence of Mr. Chase's election as 
 Justice of the Supreme Court for the Third 
 Judicial District. In a district usually Dem- 
 ocratic he was elected on the Republican 
 ticket by a majority of about thirteen thou- 
 sand. Since the ist of Januar)', 1897, he has 
 devoted himself to the duties of that office. 
 
 The jurisdiction of a Supreme Court |udge 
 e.xtends throughout the State, but the judges 
 are elected by districts. The Third District 
 is composed of seven counties — Rensselaer,. 
 
278 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Albany, Schoharie, Columbia, Greene, Ulster, 
 and Sullivan. Judge Chase has always been 
 a Republican in politics, and up to the time 
 of his election as a Suijrcme Court Uulge he 
 attended as a delegate nearly e\ery town, 
 county, district, and State convention of the 
 Republican party. During his career at the 
 bar he was constantly connected with impor- 
 tant litigations in the Third Judicial District 
 and other jKirts of the State. lie has been 
 admitted to practice in the Ignited States Dis- 
 trict and Circuit Courts and in the United 
 States Supreme Court. 
 
 Judge Chase has long been prominent in the 
 local affairs of Catskill. He was a member of 
 the Board of I{ducation for foiuteen years pre- 
 vious to December, 1896, and for five years 
 was its president. He served for a long period 
 as corporation counsel of the village of Cats- 
 kill, retiring from that office in 1895, and was 
 Supervisor of the town of Catskill in 1890. 
 He has also been conspicuously ideritified with 
 several of the most representative local inter- 
 ests. He is now first vice-president of the 
 Catskill Savings 15aiik, a director in the Tan- 
 ners' National Bank and in many other local 
 enterprises. lie is a member of the Presby- 
 terian church. 
 
 Emory A. Chase married Mary E. Churchill 
 on the thirtieth day of June, 1885. They 
 have two children — Jessie Churchill Chase 
 and Albert Woodworth Chase — and have a 
 pleasant home at 25 Prospect Avenue. 
 
 Allhciugh Judge Chase is one of the youngest 
 men elected to the Su[ireme Court in this 
 State, he has met with a very favorable recep- 
 
 tion, as shown by the following resolutions 
 and newspaper comments. 
 
 At a meeting of the Schoharie County bar, 
 
 held at the Surrogate's office in the village of 
 
 Schoharie, the twenty-fifth day of January, 
 
 1897, the following resolutions were nnani- 
 
 ■ mously adopted : — 
 
 "Resolved, thai the bar of Schoharie County 
 have watched with pleasure and approbation 
 the holding of Judge Emory A. Chase's first 
 trial term following his recent election, and 
 they congratulate themselves that Schoharie 
 County has had the privilege and honor, as 
 well, of seeing him .start out in their midst of 
 what we trust and e.\pect will be a long and 
 distinguished judicial career. 
 
 "Resolved, that, while hitherto he has been 
 a stranger to many of us, yet we desire to 
 testify to his jiatience and kindness; to his 
 fairness, skill, and judicial abilit)-, as mani- 
 fested in conducting the trial of causes; to the 
 ease and facilil\' witli wiiich he has put off the 
 lawyer and assumed the dignity of the judge; 
 to his evident desire to be right and impartial 
 in his rulings; and we congratulate the bar and 
 the people of this State, and assure them that 
 they have matle no mistake in elevating to the 
 bench Judge Emory A. Chase. We e.xtend to 
 him the pledge of our loyalty and friendship, 
 and express the desire that he shall long con- 
 tinue to wear the judicial ermine." 
 
 From the Albany Daily Press Knicker- 
 bocker : — 
 
 "Judge Chase has won a \ery emiable repu- 
 tation during his sitting for ability and in ex- 
 pediting the administration of justice." 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 279 
 
 From the Albany Times Union : — • 
 ■"It was the first term of Justice Chase in 
 this city, and he has made a favorable impres- 
 sion on the members of the bar in this county, 
 not only as an honorable gentleman, but a fair 
 and impartial lawyer, possessing extensive 
 legal knowledge. 
 
 From the Albany Alorning Express : — 
 ■'Justice Chase convened the March trial 
 term of the Supreme Court on the first day of 
 March. He came to Albany for the first time 
 as a presiding justice, and was unknown to 
 many members of the bar. He adjourned the 
 term yesterday, and left the city, having won a 
 reputation for judicial ability, fairness, and 
 courtesy that is well deserved. 
 
 ■■Justice Chase has been a model presiding 
 justice. He was confronted with a calendar of 
 three hundred and forty-four cases, and during 
 the three weeks of the term he disposed of 
 sixty-six cases. Of this number twenty-six 
 were settled, twenty-eight tried, eleven re- 
 ferred, and a change of venue was made in one. 
 This is a somewhat remarkable record; and, if 
 other justices were as anxious to expedite busi- 
 ness as is Justice Chase, many cases would not 
 drag along in the courts for an extended period 
 of time. " 
 
 From the Albany Evening Journal : — 
 "The Judge has proved himself to be one of 
 the most popular men who ever have sat upon 
 the bench in the court room in the City Hall." 
 From the Albany Evening Journal : — 
 "During the term just concluded Justice 
 Chase has shown himself to be a model presid- 
 ing officer. His first circuit has demonstrated 
 
 him to be practically all that a judge should 
 be." 
 
 From the Troy Times : — 
 
 "The Hon. Fmory A. Chase, of Catskill, 
 Justice of the Supreme Court, has just finished 
 his first trial term in Schoharie County. The 
 term was highly successful, and Justice Chase 
 was congratulated by the bar on the impartial- 
 ity of the rulings and the fairness of his 
 charges. Justice Chase has a fine command of 
 language and a thorough knowledge of the 
 rules of evidence. The opening of his judicial 
 career fulfils the prophecy of his nomination. " 
 
 From the Hudson Republican : — 
 
 "The Hon. Emory A. Chase, of Catskill, 
 Justice of the Supreme Court, Third Judicial 
 Department, has accepted the invitation of tiie 
 Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in 
 the First Department to hold a special term in 
 New York City beginning May 17 and contin- 
 uing until June 5. Justice Chase was chosen 
 to the bench at the last election of a Supreme 
 Court Justice in this judicial district, and he 
 has already so thoroughly proved his efficiency 
 as to warrant the high compliment which is 
 contained in this invitation from the judiciary 
 of New York City. Justice Chase has just 
 finished holding a term of court at Hudson, 
 where, as usual, his impartiality and judicial 
 ability were praised by everybody. He is 
 remarkably well fitted for the office which he 
 fills, and it has not taken the courts, the liar, 
 and the people long to find it out. " 
 
 From the Troy Times : — 
 
 "The term of the Supreme Court just clos- 
 ing in this city has given the lawyers and the 
 
2So 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 
 
 people an oppditunity to become acquainted 
 witli tlie judicial qualities of the presiding 
 justice, the Hon. Emory A. Chase, of Cats- 
 kill. Acquaintance has meant admiration. 
 In sitting as judge at civil and criminal trials 
 of unusual magnitude Justice Chase has shown 
 ])nimptness, fairness, and mastery of tlie law 
 and its |)rinciples that have assured tn iiini the 
 place of a favorite in the esteem of the people 
 hereabout. His future visits to this city in 
 either a judicial or a social capacit)- will be 
 cordially welcomed. " 
 
 The Albany Express, s])eaking of the Octo- 
 ber trial term of the Supreme Court, presided 
 over by Judge Chase, says, " The term has 
 been one of the longest and most satisfactory 
 ever held in this county." 
 
 ^RTHR I. STANLEY, M.D.,anable 
 jjhysician and a highly esteemed citi- 
 zen of Windham, Greene County, 
 r^.'. v., was born in Harpersfield, Delaware 
 County, this State, on August ii, 1S25, son 
 of Nathan antl Pamelia (Hogaboom) Stanley. 
 His grandfather, l^ichard Stanley, came to 
 New York State from New Jersey during the 
 Revolutionary War, being among the farming 
 pf)pulatinn of that colony who were so harassed 
 by the Hessian troops brought over to re-en- 
 force the British arm\' that they abandoned 
 their homes. 
 
 Richard Stanley, settling in the wilderness, 
 cleared a farm in what is now the town of Gil- 
 l)oa, Schoharie Count}-, where he resided for 
 a number of years. His last days were sjient 
 
 in Harpersfield. He was the father of three 
 children. Information at hand does not locate 
 for a certainty the birthplace of his son 
 Nathan, the Doctor's father, but he was prob- 
 ably reared in Schoharie County. He served 
 as a soldier in the War of 1S12. 
 
 Nathan Stanley accompanied his father to 
 Harpersfield, and, succeeding to the ownership 
 of the homestead, he resided there for the rest 
 of his life. His wife, Pamelia Hogaboom, 
 was a native of Prattsville, Greene County. 
 She became the mother of fourteen chikhen, 
 only three of whom are living, namely: John 
 L., who is residing in Kansas; Peter I., the 
 subject of this sketch ; and Jane, who married 
 William Sampson. The parents both lived to 
 be seventy-eight years old. They were origi- 
 nally Presbyterians, but in their later years at- 
 tentled the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 Peter I. Stanley acquired his early education 
 in the district schools and at the Stamford 
 Acatlemy. He remained upon the home' farm 
 until lie was twenty-one, when he went to 
 work in a woollen factory, and continuetl in 
 that employment (uie year. Deciding to enter 
 professional life, he began the study of medi- 
 cine at the age of twenty-two witli Dr. Cove), 
 of Stamford, and completed his preparations at 
 the Albany Medical College, from which he 
 was graduated in 1S53. Locating in Ashland, 
 he resided there for si.xteen years; and, as he 
 was the onl_\- [jhysician in the town, he was 
 kept constantly busy in attending to a large 
 and lucrative practice, which extended over a 
 wide circuit. At the earnest solicitation of 
 the peojile ol Windham he in 1869 removed 
 
i'KTEK I. STANLEY. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 283 
 
 to this town, where he has ever since found an 
 ample field in which to demonstrate his ability 
 and usefulness; and it may be truthfully said 
 that the entire community has profited by his 
 fidelity, promptitude, and skill. He has re- 
 ported many interesting cases to the County 
 Medical Society, of which he has been a mem- 
 ber ever since its organization, some forty 
 years ago; and he has several times been called 
 upon to serve as its president. As his physi- 
 cal powers remain unimpaired, he still con- 
 tinues to take long rides; and the inhabitants 
 of all this locality consider themselves fortu- 
 nate in being able to reap the benefits arisiijg 
 from his long experience as a practitioner. 
 
 In 1853 Dr. Stanley was united in mar- 
 riage with Sarah l^assett, a native of Harpers- 
 field and a daughter of Joshua Bassett, a pros- 
 perous farmer of that town. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Stanley have had ten children, fi\'e of whom 
 are living; namely, Ella M., Ada E., Joseph- 
 ine A., Nathan Wilmcit, and Sarah Kathleen. 
 Ella M. married J. C. Talmadge, a lawyer of 
 Catskill, and has two children — Leone S. and 
 N. Edna. Ada E. married Edgar C. Moon, 
 a printer in New York City, and has two chil- 
 dren — Vernon S. and Lena A. Josephine A. 
 is the wife of Lawyer Mellon, a boot and shoe 
 dealer in Windham, and has three children — 
 Stanley H., Edith A., and Sheridan Wilmot. 
 Nathan Wilmot Stanley is a ci\il engineer 
 employed in the department of public works 
 in New York City. Sarah Kathleen Stan- 
 ley is an artist of local repute, her talent, 
 which is of a high order, having been 
 cultivated under comiietent instructors in 
 
 New York. Of the other children one 
 died in infancy; Belle and Charles died 
 while 3-oung; Vernon C. died at the age 
 of twenty-two years, while pursuing his medi- 
 cal studies; and William Slieridan, who was 
 a hardware merchant in Cairo, N. Y., died at 
 the age of thirty-one years. The latter was 
 also an artist of ability boih with the brush 
 and needle. Among the dearly-prized prod- 
 ucts of this genius is a piece of work five feet 
 long and three feet wide, executed from an 
 original design, and representing a deer in the 
 forest on its way to drink. Another, which is 
 a painting representing two admirably drawn 
 dogs of different sizes, called "David and Go- 
 liah," has received favorable comment from 
 artists of note. 
 
 Politically, Dr. Stanley is a Republican. 
 He was a member of the Ashland Board of 
 Supervisors in i860, has served as Town Clerk 
 in Ashland for two years and as Coroner for 
 the same length of time. He is a Chapter 
 Mason, and formerly belonged to the Indepen- 
 dent Order of Odd Fellows. For the past 
 twenty-five years he has been a Pension Ex- 
 aminer. 
 
 fsi*|ACOB M. SNYDER, the genial, ac- 
 commodating, and popular proprietor 
 of the Snyder House at Gallupville, in 
 the town of Wright, Schoharie County, was 
 born in Berne, N.Y., May 6, 1837, a son of 
 Peter I. Snyder. He is the worthy represent- 
 ative of one of the early settled Dutch fami- 
 lies of this section of the State. His grand- 
 father, John Snyiler, and his great-grandfather, 
 
284 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Liidwig Snyder, natives of Holland, emigrated 
 to America in Colonial days, and both served 
 as soldiers in the Revolutionary army. 
 
 John Snyder came with his jiarents to 
 Schoharie when a young man, and with them 
 settled in the unbroken woods. At the be- 
 ginning of the Revolution he entered the 
 Continental army, and on July 26, 1782, was 
 carried as a prisoner to Canada. He there en- 
 listed in the ]?ritish army, from which he very 
 soon after made his escape, and returned to 
 Schoharie. Here he was afterward engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits until his decease, in 
 1850. He married a Miss Dorstein. She 
 died at an advanced age, after bringing up a 
 large family of children. 
 
 Peter I. Snyder was born on the homestead 
 in Schoharie in 1802. Learning the trade of 
 a shoemaker in his youth, he followed it for a 
 time in Berne, Albany County. Returning 
 to Schoharie, he lived there a while, and after 
 that he was localetl in Gallupville as a shoe- 
 maker a few years, and then he removed to 
 Knox, Albany County, where he died at the 
 age of sixty-seven years. He was a Democrat 
 in his political affiliations, and served a.s an 
 Overseer of the Poor. While a resident of 
 Berne he united with the local lodge of Odd 
 F'ellows, an organization in which he took 
 great interest all his life. Both he ami his 
 wife were active members of the Lutheran 
 church. Her maiden name was Eva Dietz. 
 She was born in the town of Berne of German 
 parentage, being one of the fourteen children 
 of John 15. Dietz. Eleven of these children 
 grew to mature life, and the average age ot 
 
 nine of them was seventy-nine years, a record 
 for longevity seldom equalled. Of the seven 
 children born to Peter I. and l-'va (Dietz) 
 i Snyder four grew to years of maturity and two 
 are now living, namely: Jacob M. ; and Eliza- 
 beth, wife of Sidney Shufildt. The mother 
 died December 12, 1885, aged eighty-two 
 years. 
 
 Jacob M. Snyder received his eaily educa- 
 tion in the district schools of Berne, and after 
 finishing his studies learned the shoemaker's 
 trade, which he followed in Knox until 1863. 
 Coming then to Gallupville, he opened a cus- 
 tom shop, in which for twenty-two years he 
 made shoes to order, being the pioneer of that 
 line of industry in this region. In 1885 he 
 purchased from the former owners, Twitchell 
 & Collins, the old Collins House, to which he 
 has since built an addition. It is now known 
 as the Snyder House, has been entirely refur- 
 nished, and is one of the best country hotels 
 in this section of the State. Mr. Snyder also 
 owns a livery stable, which lie carries on suc- 
 cessfully in connection with his hotel. 
 
 He is prominently identified with the Demo- 
 cratic party of this locality, which he has rep- 
 resented at various county conventions as a 
 delegate. In 1891 and 1892 he was one of 
 the Board of Supervisors, and for six years he 
 has served as Town Clerk. 
 
 On November 27, 1862, Mr. .Snyder mar- 
 ried Julia Allen. She is a daughter of Syl- 
 vester Allen, who was formerly a carpenter of 
 Knox, Albany County, but is now successfully 
 engaged in farming in that town. Seven 
 children have been born of this union, and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 285 
 
 four of them are now living; namely, Jeffer- 
 son, Edna, J. IVIiner, and Ursula. Jefferson, 
 who married Nellie Becker, was for seven 
 years connected with the Albany tlay line of 
 steamboats, and for four years was connected 
 with the management of Stanwix Hall in Al- 
 bany, but is now proprietor of Hotel Berne in 
 Berne, N.Y. 
 
 Edna is the wife of Sanford D. Schell, a 
 farmer in Gallupville, and has six children — 
 Eva, Libbie, Hazel, Martin, Jefferson, and 
 Howard. J. Miner, for four years connected 
 with the Albany day line of steamers and 
 now manager of the Snyder House, married 
 Carrie Zimmer. Ursula is the wife of 
 Charles E. Spateholts, a farmer of Wright. 
 Mrs. Snyder is a Methodist in her religious 
 belief and a regular attendant of the church 
 of that denomination. 
 
 'OSI'PH W. VAN SCHAICK, for many 
 years a prominent farmer of Sharon, 
 Schoharie County, was born in this 
 town, June 5, 1S04, son of Koert and Margaret 
 (Wilson) Van Schaick. He was a descendant 
 in the fourth generation of Francis Van 
 Schaick, one of three brothers who emigrated 
 from Holland and settled in New Jersey. 
 Francis Van Schaick died in New Jersey; and 
 his son William, grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, settled in Glen, N. Y. , where he 
 probably spent his last days. William Van 
 Schaick married Patience Schenck, who also 
 was of Dutch descent. 
 
 Koert Van Schaick, father of Joseph W. , 
 
 served in the Continental army during the 
 Revolutionary War, several others of that name, 
 who were relatives, being enrolled among the 
 patriots. He came from Glen to Sharon some 
 time between the years 1790 and 1796; and 
 the title to the homestead, upon which his 
 grand-daughter now resides, was issued in the 
 latter year. He cleared a large farm, built 
 the present residence, which is now about one 
 hundred years old, and was favorably known 
 throughout this locality. He lived to be over 
 seventy years old. His wife, Margaret, who 
 came from New Jersey, was of English and 
 Scotch descent. She became the mother of 
 nine children ; namely, Mary, Patience, Mar- 
 garet, Josejih W., the subject of this sketch, 
 Leffert G., Rachel, Sarah, James, and another 
 .son who died in infancy. James, who served 
 as an officer in an artillery company connected 
 with the State militia, was accidentally killed 
 by the premature discharge of a cannon at an 
 election celebration in 1S44. He was unmar- 
 ried. The other seven married, and had fam- 
 ilies. 
 
 Joseph W. Van Schaick succeeded to the 
 homestead, which he occupied his entire life, 
 and was one of the stirring farmers of his day. 
 Though not an aspirant for public office, he 
 was honored with election to various local 
 positions of trust, serving acceptably as Super- 
 visor of the town in 1849, and was highly es- 
 teemeil for his many excellent qualities. He 
 was a firm, stanch, and lifelong Democrat. 
 He was a prominent member of the True Re- 
 formed church of Sharon, anil by his liberality 
 and lalior was instrumental in a great measure 
 
286 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in llie Iniildinj;' of the cliuich edifice. He 
 clieil on /\pril 23, i<S8o, honored and esteemed 
 by all who knew him. 
 
 Jcseph W. Van Schaick married Elizabeth 
 Slingerland, daii<(hter of Captain Jacob Sling- 
 erland, of Hethlehem, Albany County, who died 
 in 1890. Her father dieil when she was young, 
 and she was reared in Sharon by an aunt. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Van Schaick were the parents 
 of eight children; namely, Koert, ]£lizabeth, 
 Mary, Catharine, John, Slingerland, Sarah, 
 and I'Juil)-. The eldest, who was a well- 
 known singer and teacher, died at the age of 
 thirty-three years, leaving one son, William, 
 who is now residing in Rochester, N.Y. 
 Slingerland died in California. Elizabeth, 
 Mary, and Sarah are no longer living. lunily 
 is the wife of Mr. \'an Schaick, of Mont- 
 gomery County. John is an attorne}' in 
 Cobleskill, and an e.\-Slate Senator. 
 
 Miss Catharine Van Schaick is a graduate 
 of the State Normal School at Albany. She 
 was for several years a .successful teaclier, but 
 gave up educational work in 1K83 in order to 
 care for her mother. After the death of her 
 mother in 1890, Miss Van Schaick took charge 
 of the homestead; and, being a woman of good 
 executive ability, she has managed the prop- 
 erty energetically ever since. She ])ossesses 
 literary tastes and attainments of a high order; 
 and these, together with her excellent social 
 qualities, endear her to a large number of 
 friends and acquaintances. She is a strict ad- 
 herent of the Dutch Reformed chinch. The 
 house she occupies has long been consjiicuous 
 as a landmark. it contains many relics in 
 
 shape of family utensils used by her grandpar- 
 ents; also the Revolutionary musket, with its 
 highly prized date of 1776 engraved thereon, 
 and the old sword hanging idly in its scabbard 
 high up on the wall. 
 
 The Van Schaick family are sturdy-going 
 Americans, and in e\ery generation men of 
 this name have gone forth to serve their coun- 
 try upon the battlefield anil in the council 
 chambers of the government. The family 
 cherish the traditions of Alkmaar, Leyden, 
 Brill, and the Heggars of the Sea. They rev- 
 erence the memory of William of Orange and 
 I'rince Maurice, under whom their ancestors 
 fought the Spanish tyrant. Ihii they have 
 transplanted these memories anti traditions to 
 American soil, and are thorough j)atriots. 
 Down to the latest generation the strong qual- 
 ities of the race have descended. The recent 
 appointment of Ix)uis J. Wan Schaick, son of 
 ex-Senator Van Schaick, to a .Second Lieuten- 
 ancy in the United States regular army, 
 marks the beginning of another career which 
 bids fair to be an honored antl a useful one. 
 
 TEriH'N P. HALLOCK, of Cox- 
 
 sackie, N.Y. , dealer in provisions, 
 grain, hay, and straw, was born in 
 New lialtimorc, N.Y., on March 5, 1838, his 
 parents being Joseph '/.. and I'JKebe ^Herrick) 
 Hallock. His paternal grandfather, Zebulon 
 Hallock, was either born in New Baltimore 
 or came there as a child in the early days of 
 its settlement. He was a tanner and shoe- 
 maker, and worked at those trades all his life. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 =87 
 
 He died at the age of seventy-two. His wife 
 was before lier marriage Sally S. Kidmore. 
 They had a large family of children. 
 
 Joseph Z. Hallock was a farmer. He spent 
 all his life in New Baltimore, and died there 
 on January 28, 1899, at the age of eighty-four 
 years. He was a prominent citizen in his 
 town and a farmer on a large scale. He was 
 a member for sixty-four years of the Christian 
 church, and held leading offices in the church. 
 His wife, Fhcebe, was born in New Baltimore, 
 daughter of John Herrick, a well-known 
 farmer of that town. She is still living at the 
 age of eighty-two. Of the five children that 
 have been born to her, four are living, 
 namely : Stephen P. ; Andrew, who resides at 
 the Upper Village; Leander; and Charles, 
 
 Stephen P. Hallock received a practical ed- 
 ucation in the public schools of his native 
 town. The first twenty-four years oi his life 
 were spent on his father's farm, and at the 
 end of that time he came to Coxsackie, and 
 entered the dry-goods store of Collier & Van 
 Vliet as clerk. Three years later he pur- 
 chased Mr. Van Vliet's interest in the busi- 
 ness, and the firm became Collier & Hallock. 
 This partnership continued until 1880, when 
 Mr. Hallock sold out to Mr. Wolf, and bought 
 out the grocery business of David Hallock. 
 He was then located on the opposite side of 
 the street, but a few years after he bought out 
 Piatt Coonley's business, with his entire stock 
 of groceries and- provisions, and then removed 
 to his present stand. In 1896 his son Roscoe 
 was admitted to partnership in the business. 
 This is the largest grocery in Greene County, 
 
 carrying on besides its immense retail trade a 
 large wholesale department. Mr. Hallock is 
 the oldest grocer in the town, and in course 
 of his long Inisiness career he has seen many 
 changes in the village and a great increase in 
 population. 
 
 Mr. Hallock was married in 1864 to Carrie 
 Webber, who was born in this town, daughter 
 of William Webber. She is of Holland de- 
 scent on her grandfather's side, her grand- 
 mother having been a native of Connecticut. 
 Her father spent his life on a farm in this 
 town, and was not only a farmer but the lead- 
 ing auctioneer of Coxsackie. He was a promi- 
 nent Democrat, and held a nrunber of town 
 and county offices, among them being that of 
 county superintendent of the almshouse at 
 Cairo. His death occurred at the age of 
 seventy. He and his family attended the 
 Dutch Reformed church. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Elizabeth Vermillia, was 
 born in Coxsackie. She died at the age of 
 seventy-five, having been tiie mother of seven 
 children — Christina, Millisson, Robert, 
 Carrie, John W., Addie, and Sallie. Of these 
 two are deceased, namely: Millisson, who 
 married J. H. Brandow ; and Robert. Chris- 
 tina, who is a widow, married for her first hus- 
 band Richard Halstead and for her second 
 husband Richard Cornwall. Addie is the 
 wife of O. T. Schermerhorn, of Cairo, and 
 Sallie married J. O. Cornwall. Mrs. Hal- 
 lock's paternal grandmother lived to be nintty- 
 two years of age, dying on the farm where her 
 son William was born and where he livetl and 
 died. Mr. and Mrs. Hallock have an only 
 
288 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAT, REVIEW 
 
 child, Roscoe, who has always been in his 
 father's store except tluring the four years 
 when he was Assistant Postmaster. He 
 bought an interest in liie business in the 
 spring of 1896. 
 
 Mr. Hal lock is a Rciniblican and a strong 
 advocate of the principle of ]irotection. He 
 has serveil many years on the Hoaril of Educa- 
 tion, for several terms as Trustee and Treas- 
 urer of the village, and has always taken an 
 active part in all public matters. He was one 
 of the most earnest promoters of the beautiful 
 new school-house, which was erected at a cost 
 of thirty thousand dollars. I'^or more than 
 thirty years he has been a member of the Sec- 
 ond Reformetl Church, of which also his wife 
 and son are members. Mr. Roscoe Hallock 
 is a member of Ark Lodge, F. & A. M., of 
 Coxsackie. Although Mr. llallock's best ener- 
 gies have been given to his store, he haS found 
 time to devote to other business interests. 
 For a number of years he o|)erated the Hallock 
 steam-mill and the foundry connectetl with 
 it. This was started by his brother Havid, 
 who erected the buildings, but the plant was 
 burnetl in 1S92. It was an imjiortant indus- 
 try in Coxsackie for many years. y\t one time 
 Mr. Hallock carried on a feed, grain, and salt 
 business at West Coxsackie. During early 
 life, lor a number of years, he taught school 
 in the winter time. 
 
 HUGlCNh: ]■:. IRJVVT-:, a rising young 
 lawyer of (jilboa, was born in South 
 Londonderry, V't., May 22, 1867, son of 
 
 I'"hvin A. and Jennie (Walker) Howe. He 
 is a descendant on both sides of early arrivals 
 at Plymouth, Mass., and his paternal grand- 
 father was prominently identified with the 
 public affairs of Vermont in his day. Elwin 
 A. Howe enlisted as a private at the breaking 
 out of the Civil War, and was later commis- 
 sioned Captain of a company belonging to the 
 One Hundred and Eighth United States In- 
 fantry, a colored regiment. After the war he 
 engaged in the wooden-ware business in Lud- 
 low, Vt., becoming one of the princijial stock- 
 holders in a large enterprise known as the 
 Ludlow Toy Manufacturing Company, of 
 which he was superintendent. lie is widely 
 and favorably known throughout the Green 
 Mountain State as a leading Re]iublican, hav- 
 ing served four years in the lower house and 
 two years in the State Senate. He was for- 
 merly Postmaster of Ludlow and superintend- 
 ent of the water-works. He married Jennie 
 Walker, a representative of a highly reputable 
 Vermont family and a sister of the Hon. Will- 
 iam H. Walker, a prominent lawyer, who 
 served in both branches of the legislature antl 
 as a Justice of the Su|jreme Court. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Elwin A. Howe have had six sons and 
 three daughters, all of whom are studiously 
 inclined, and are making good use of the lib- 
 eral education which it has been their good 
 fortune to receive. 
 
 Eugene K. Howe pursued his preparatory 
 course at the Hlack River Academy, Ludlow, 
 and was graduated at Middlebury College 
 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in i.SSS. 
 lie was one of the honor men of his class, and 
 
I). 1!. llllLllCOCK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 291 
 
 belongs to the various college fraternities. 
 In 1887 he was appointed official reporter for 
 the Vermont legislature, holding that office 
 for four years in the House and two years in 
 the Senate. His law studies were begun in 
 the office of Batchelder & Barber, of Vermont ; 
 and, while pursuing the regular course at the 
 Albany Law School, his spare time was spent 
 in the office of the Hon. Alden Chester, of 
 that city. He was admitted to the bar in 
 1891, and, beginning the practice of his pro- 
 fession in company with J. S. Frost, he re- 
 mained in Albany some four years, during 
 which time he figured in several important 
 cases. In 1895, at the advice of friends, he 
 came to Gilboa, where he has already estab- 
 lished a large general law business, and has 
 become a familiar figure in the courts of 
 Schoharie, Greene, and Delaware Counties. 
 He is a forcible advocate and a fluent speaker, 
 is familiar with court procedure; and these 
 essential qualities, together with the ability he 
 displays in preparing his cases, give ample 
 evidence of the brilliant future which has 
 been predicted for him. In politics he is a 
 Republican. 
 
 Mr. Howe married Florence Eaton, daugh- 
 ter of William Eaton, a successful business 
 man and highly respected citizen of West Ar- 
 lington, Vt. Her father's people were na- 
 tives of Vermont, and her mother's family 
 were from the South. She is a graduate of 
 the State Normal School at Albany, attended 
 the Emerson School of Oratory, Boston, and 
 was a successful teacher previous to her mar- 
 riage. Of this union there are sons, Eugene 
 
 S. and Carroll E. , and a daughter Marion. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Howe are members of the Dutch 
 Reformed church. 
 
 M 
 
 WIGHT B. HITCHCOCK, a retired 
 1^ ■ business man of Windham, was born 
 in this town on February 3, 1830, 
 being the son of Lucius and Eveline (Hayes) 
 Hitchcock. He is a grandson of Lemuel 
 Hitchcock, a native of Connecticut, who was 
 one of the pioneer settlers of Greene County, 
 coming first to Durham. 
 
 Later Lemuel Hitchcock removed to that 
 part of Windham known as Big Hollow, where 
 he settled, and subsequently remained until his 
 death, at the age of seventy-five. He had ten 
 children. His first home here was a log 
 cabin; but later, as increasing prosperity at- 
 tended him, he erected a large frame house. 
 He was one of the prominent men in this part 
 of Greene County, and during the Revolution 
 served the country as a military officer, hold- 
 ing the rank of Lieutenant. 
 
 Lucius Hitchcock was born in Durham. 
 He was brought up on a farm, and all his life 
 was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He 
 built a house in Big Hollow near that of his 
 father, and there made his home to the end of 
 his days. In politics he was a Republican, 
 and in religious faith he followed the teach- 
 ings of his father and was a member of the 
 Presbyterian church. His wife, Eveline, who 
 died at the age of forty-si.x, was born in 
 Granby, Mass., and was one of a family of ten 
 children. Her father, Luther Hayes, who was 
 
292 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 a saddler of that town, settled eventually in 
 Durham, where he died at the age of eighty 
 years. Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Hitchcock were 
 the parents of five children. Four of these are 
 living, namely: Dwight B. ; Piatt O. ; Har- 
 riet, who married the late George P. Townsend, 
 of Windham; and William. 
 
 Dwight B. Hitchcock livcil with his parents 
 in Pig Hollow, and helped on the home farm 
 until he was twenty-one years of age, when he 
 began working out by the month. His habits 
 were frugal. He saved his wages, and event- 
 ually bought a farm near his father's. There 
 he remained ten years. He then removed to 
 Ashland, and, in company with Mr. R. L. 
 Parsons, bought nut a store, where he carried 
 on business for five years. Selling out at the 
 end of that time, he came to Windham and 
 went into partnership with John Patterson. 
 After twelve years of successful enterprise he 
 retired from business. Mr. Hitchcock's place 
 is one of the finest in Windham. It is known 
 as the Colonel Robertson homestead. 
 
 Mr. Hitchcock has been twice married. 
 His first wife, whose maiden name was Julia 
 Atwatcr, died in her thirtieth year. She was 
 born in ]5ig Hollow. Her father, .\lfred At- 
 water, farmed for some time in Big Hollow, 
 later for twenty years in Windham, and finally 
 removed to Colorado, where he died. Mrs. 
 Julia A. Hitchcock was the mother of two 
 children, neither of whom is living. She was 
 a devoted member of the Presbyterian cliLuxh. 
 
 Mr. Hitchcock's second wife, also a native 
 of Windham, was before her marriage .Sarah 
 R. Barney. Her parents were Ahira and 
 
 Lydia (Robertson) Barney, and her grandpar- 
 ents were Aaron and Rebecca (Saxton) Barney. 
 Her grandfather, Aaron, was a native of New 
 Hampshire, but came to Windham in early 
 manhood and began work as a journeyman car- 
 penter, settling near the \illage. He lived to 
 a good old age. He is well remembered as 
 the builder of the tanneries in this section. 
 Rebecca, his wife, dieil at the age of thirty- 
 four years, having been the mother of three 
 children. She was a n.iti\e of Rensselaer- 
 ville, of which place her ]xirents were early 
 settlers. 
 
 Ahira Barnev, who diet! in his sexenticth 
 year, carried on a farm where the cemetery 
 now lies. He was a lifelong resident of this 
 locality, having been boin in the town and 
 reared in the village. His wife, Lydia, was a 
 daughter of Colonel James Robertson, who was 
 one of the first to take up and clear land in the 
 town of Windham. He was a prominent man 
 in these parts, very active in all public affairs. 
 He died at the age of seventy-eight. Of his 
 eight children two are living: James, of Os- 
 wego County, New York ; and Elbert, who re- 
 sides in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Lydia R. 
 Barney died at the age of eighty-one. Of her 
 four children one son, I-^lbert, died in 1 8g6, 
 and the other, .Samuel, died at the age of 
 twelve years. The living are: Mrs. Hitch- 
 cock and Mrs. L. V. Bri.sack. Mrs. Hitch- 
 cock's ])arents and grandparents were members 
 of the Presbyteiian chui'ch. 
 
 Politically, Mi'. Hitchcock is a Republican. 
 He has always taken an active share in local 
 matters and in all questions of public interest. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 293 
 
 He and Mrs. Hitchcock are members of the 
 Presbyterian church and active workers in that 
 body. Mr. Hitchcock is an Elder of the 
 church. 
 
 TANTON COURTER, a well- 
 // "^ known nianutacturer and builder of 
 Cobleskill, N.Y. , was born in this 
 town, Eebruary 23, 1839. His father, the 
 late Charles Courter, was for many years an 
 influential resident of Cobleskill. His pater- 
 nal grandfather, Ralph Courter, who was born 
 and bred in Germany, came to America, and, 
 after livinsj a short time in New Jersey, re- 
 moved to Schoharie, where he engaged in the 
 manufacture of shoes. 
 
 Charles Courter, one of a family of seven 
 children, spent his early life in Schoharie, 
 but when a young man began work on his own 
 account in Middleburg as clerk in a store. 
 Going thence to Lawyersville, he there en- 
 gaged in business until his removal to Cobles- 
 kill, in 1837. He subsequently assisted in 
 building the Albany & Susquehanna railway, 
 of which he was for many years a director. 
 He also built many fine brick blocks in Cobles- 
 kill; but after the disastrous fire of 1873, in 
 which he lost heavily, he practically retired 
 from active pursuits, although he retained real 
 estate interests until his death, which occurred 
 in 1879, at the age of threescore and ten 
 years. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, 
 and served as one of the village trustees a 
 number of years. His wife, whose maiden 
 name was Helen Lawyer, was born in Law- 
 yersville, and was a daughter of Thomas 
 
 Lawyer, a lifelong resident of that town. 
 She died at the age of si.xty-eight years. 
 Both parents were attendants of the Lutheran 
 church. Five of their children survive; 
 namely, Josephine, Stanton, Henrietta, Cor- 
 delia, and Helen C. 
 
 Stanton Courter in his youth attended acad- 
 emies at .Schoharie and Fort Plain, and was 
 afterward graduated from the Buffalo Commer- 
 cial College. ]5efore attaining his majority 
 he went to Chicago, where his father had been 
 instrumental in establishing the extensive 
 lumber firm of C. Courter & Co., which dealt 
 in lumber manufactured in its own mills in 
 the timber districts of Michigan. He was 
 there for a time in the employ of that com- 
 pany, and going thence to Milwaukee, Wis., 
 he was connected with the extensive railway 
 operators, Rogers, Courter & Co., until they 
 sold the Milwaukee & Western Railroad to 
 the St. Paul Railway Company, when he be- 
 came confidential secretary of Sherburne S. 
 Merrill, manager of the road under the new 
 officials. In 1864 Mr. Courter returned to 
 Cobleskill, and for eleven years was first 
 cashier of the First National Bank, which he 
 and his father had established. The follow- 
 ing three years he spent in Pensacola, Fla., 
 looking after the lumber interests of his father 
 in that State. The Florida property being 
 then sold to an Plnglish syndicate, Mr. Courter 
 again returned to his native town, and on the 
 death of his father succeeded him in business, 
 becoming owner of the manufacturing plant of 
 Courter & Overpaugh. With characteristic 
 enterprise he has almost entirely rebuilt the 
 
294 
 
 BlOGRAPJllCAL REVIEW 
 
 original works, and now has a large factory 
 finely equipped witli modern machinery and 
 appliances. In addition to turning out vast 
 amounts of dressed lumber and Ini i id ing ma- 
 terials of all kinds each year, he manufactures 
 furniture of all descriptions, and as a con- 
 tractor for buildings has erected some of the 
 finest residences in this part of the county. 
 His own dwelling, on the corner of Main and 
 Grand Streets, is a spacious Colonial man- 
 sion, with large rooms and halls and high 
 ceilings. 
 
 Mr. Courter also built the Cobleskill elec- 
 tric light plant, which has proved of inesti- 
 mable value as a means of lighting the 
 village, the corporation, and the residences of 
 the town. Fraternally, he is a Mason, be- 
 longing to Cobleskill Lodge, F. & A. M. ; 
 and to John L. Lewis Chapter, R. A. M. 
 
 )UCIUS A. WOODWORTH, proprie- 
 tor of the Ripley House in Hunter, 
 was born in Jewett on January i8, 
 1833, his parents being Abner and Sophronia 
 (Judson) Woodworth. The family, wliich is 
 of Scotch descent, was a pioneer one of 
 Jewett, living there first in a log cabin and 
 clearing the wild forest land. Mr. Wood- 
 worth's grandfather, Lemuel Woodworth, was 
 born in Jewett, and lived there to a good old 
 age. His wife, whose maiden name was 
 Lydia Winters, lived to be seventy-five years 
 old. Their children were as follows: David; 
 Alanson ; Hiram; Lemuel; Reuben, who died 
 young; Lydia, who married a ■'"uUer; Nancy, 
 
 who married a I'"airchild; ajid Sally, who mar- 
 ried a Slater. 
 
 Abner Woodworth was born in Jewett. He 
 was reared on a farm, and was interested in 
 agricultural labors as long as he lived. When 
 about eighteen years of age he became the 
 owner of a farm, and this he carried on until 
 his death, a period of neai ly sixty years. He 
 was a very earnest Christian man and an ac- 
 tive worker in the Methodist church, of which 
 he and iiis wife were members. Mrs. So- 
 phronia Woodworth, who died at the age of 
 forty-seven, was born in Jewett. She was the 
 daughter of Dr. Judson, an old-time [)hysician 
 of Windham, who is believed to have come 
 from Hartford, Conn. Abner anil Sophronia 
 Woodworth were the parents of six children. 
 
 Lucius Woodworth lived with his parents 
 until he was twenty-one years old. He was 
 educated in the common schools and at I""er- 
 gusonville Collegiate Institute. He taught 
 school one winter in Hunter, and worked in 
 this vicinity at carpentering with his brother- 
 in-law during the summer. At twenty-one 
 years of age he went out to Wisconsin, where 
 he stayed for three years, working at his trade 
 in the summers. One winter he taught school 
 at I'",lkhorn, in that State; one winter he at- 
 tended school; and the third he worked in a 
 sho|-). In 1861, in company with two other 
 men, he started for Colorado, journeying in 
 his own conveyance, which was a large covered 
 emigrant wagon. The distance was eleven 
 hundreil miles. Indians were often seen, but 
 they were not hostile, and the tri]) was made 
 in safety. Arriving in Denver, Mr. Wood- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 29s 
 
 wortli remained tliere a short time, and then 
 went lip to ]?lack Hawl<, forty miles fartlier, 
 into the mining region. There for a year he 
 was engageil in building quartz-mills, and at 
 the end of that time he became himself pro- 
 prietor of a mill, which he operated for the 
 next three years. The country was then al- 
 most a wilderness, ami this mill was one of 
 the first started in that locality. At the end 
 of three years he sold out his mill and re- 
 turned East, but only to remain for a short 
 time. The Western fever was on him strong, 
 and he returned to Wisconsin and purchased 
 a farm. Not long after he had an opportunity 
 to go to Nashville, Tenn., to do carpentering 
 for the Northern army; and, when some time 
 later he returned to Wisconsin, he sold out 
 his farm and decided to push on farther west 
 to Montana. Going down to Chicago, he 
 bought twenty mules, loaded a wagon train 
 with freight, and started westward. The 
 freight was to be delivered in Denver. This 
 was in the dead of winter, and the undertaking 
 was most perilous. For two months Mr. 
 Woodworth travelled without seeing a spark 
 of fire, except for cooking purposes. But he 
 reached Denver safely, delivered his load, and 
 then returned to Council Bluffs, where he 
 hired his mules kept until spring opened. 
 Then securing a load in Omaha for Denver, he 
 carried it out there, a distance of six hundred 
 miles, and upon delivering it reloaded in 
 Denver for Salt Lake City. After covering 
 the eleven hundred miles, he camped for about 
 ten days, and then sold out his mule train, 
 and went to work for another man to drive a 
 
 freight team to Helena, Mont. With a 
 wagon drawn by four mules he traversed the 
 five hundred miles in twenty-five days. Ar- 
 tisans were scarce in Montana, and Mr. Wood- 
 worth went to work at his old trade, building 
 a mill, and receiving in payment his board 
 and ten dollars a day in gold. After a time 
 he formed a partnership with a Mr. Hen- 
 dricks, bought a quartz mine and put up a 
 quartz-mill, which he operated for three years. 
 Upon selling out his own business he took 
 charge of a quartz-mill for Daler & Larkey at 
 Iron Rod, on Jefferson River, and was super- 
 intendent there for si.x years. In 1883, after 
 a varied and hazardous experience in journey- 
 ing through the Far West, he returned East, 
 and the following year began business at his 
 present occupation. The hotel of which he 
 is now proprietor was built in 18S6. It has 
 accommodations for fifty guests, and during 
 the summer months he has a large number 
 of boarders. Since 1883 he has conducted a 
 livery stable, having been the first man in 
 town to open one. 
 
 Mr. Woodworth has been twice married. 
 The first Mrs. Woodworth was born in Big 
 Hollow, and her maiden name was Adele 
 Hitchcock. She was the daughter of Anson 
 Hitchcock, a leading farmer of Big Hollow. 
 Her death occurred at the age of thirty. The 
 second Mrs. Woodworth was born in New 
 York City, her maiden name being Mary Ran- 
 son. She was one of a family of four chil- 
 dren, the others being: Gussie, whomariied 
 John Coreja; Addle, who lives in Brooklyn; 
 and Georgiana, who married Bert Allen. 
 
296 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mrs. Mary Woodworth died at the age of 
 thirty -five. She was a member of the Metho- 
 dist church. Mr. Woodworth has one daugh- 
 ter, Ada C. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Woodworth is a Republi- 
 can. I-'or two years he was a member of the 
 Board of Education, and in 1 <S94 he was As- 
 sessor. He is one of the most jiopular men in 
 Hunter and one of the most popular landlords 
 in this section of the State. He is a man of 
 remarkable intrepidity, as shown by his dar- 
 ing journeyings in the West. 
 
 'rank a. chapman, proprietor of 
 Hotel Chapman at Blenheim, Schoharie 
 County, N.Y. , may be spoken of as an ideal 
 landlord, being active, enterprising, and at 
 all times obliging and pleasant. He was born 
 in the nearby town of Fulton, June 25, 1871, 
 a son of Moses L. Chapman, a lifelong resi- 
 dent of that place. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Jacob Chapman, 
 was born in Rensselaerville, Albany County, 
 and lived there after marriage. Removing 
 then to Fulton, he bought a large tract of 
 timbered land at Bouck's Falls, where he 
 cleared and improved a homestead, and passed 
 his remaining days, dying at the advanced age 
 of eighty-eight years. He was prominently 
 connected with tiie Methodist church of that 
 place, in which he served in various oiificial 
 positions. His wife, Huldah Wynans, a na- 
 tive of Cooksburg, N.V., bore him eleven 
 children, of whom seven are living, being, 
 
 with one exception, residents of Schoharie 
 County. They are: Spencer, a farmer at 
 Bouck's Falls; Nancy C, wife of Chauncey 
 .Shattuck, of Michigan; Maria Mann, of 
 Breakabeen ; Moses L. ; James 1'., ex-Super- 
 visor of Middleburg; Elizabeth L. , wife of 
 Dr. Holmes: and William W., of IJouck's 
 Falls, ex-Supervisor of I'ulton. 'I'he de- 
 ceased are: Adam, late of Bouck's Falls; 
 Harriett E. ; Isabella, deceased, who married 
 Hiram Ackerson ; and Dr. Peter L. 
 
 Moses L. Chapman remained at the paren- 
 tal homestead until he was of age, and then 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own 
 account. He bought a large farm in P'ulton, 
 on which he made substantial improvements, 
 including the erection of a new set- of build- 
 ings, and was there successfully employed as 
 a general farmer until his death, at the com- 
 paratively early age of forty-two years. He 
 was a Democrat in politics and an active 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to 
 which his wife also belonged; and both were 
 interested in its Sunday-school. He married 
 Huldah A. Beartl, tlaughter of Jacob and Ade- 
 line (Phillips) Beard. Her parents were 
 wealthy members of the farming community 
 of Richmondvillc. They reared three chil- 
 dren, namely: Sarah, who married Judge 
 Holmes, for twelve years Judge of Schoharie 
 County; Huldah A.: and John. Mrs. lieard 
 dietl at the age of forty-five years, and Mr. 
 Beard afterward removed to Genesee County, 
 where he attained the venerable age of ninety 
 years. Of the nine children born to the par- 
 ents, six are still living, as follows: William 
 
DAMi-.L D. FKISIUE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 299 
 
 H.; the Hon. Charles Chapman, a member of 
 the Assembly; Ida, wife of J. S. Hunt, of 
 Boston ; Frank A. ; Flora, of Boston ; and 
 Dora. Hattie is deceased. The mother 
 passed to the life beyond when fifty-five years 
 of age. 
 
 Frank A. Chapman was but eight years old 
 when his father died. He remained at home 
 until after completing his education in the 
 schools of West Fulton and Blenheim, and 
 then came to his present hotel as a clerk for 
 his brother, a capacity in which he remained 
 two years. Going then to Worcester, Mass., 
 he was an attendant at the as)'lum for the in- 
 sane three years. In 1893 Mr. Chapman re- 
 turned to Blenheim and purchased the hotel, 
 which he has since conducted with eminent 
 success. He has enlarged the building, 
 partly refurnished it, made substantial im- 
 provements in and around it, and has now a 
 model public house, the leading one in this 
 section of the State. It is well adapted for 
 the entertainment of guests from the city. 
 Connected with it is a first-class livery, with 
 a number of horses of good qualities, one pair 
 especially being the finest of any in the vicin- 
 ity. Mr. Chapman has hatl charge for some 
 time of the stage line between Middlebnrg 
 and Gilboa, and also of the line from the 
 latter place to Grand Gorge, si.\ miles be- 
 yond, and has the contract for carrying the 
 mails between these places. 
 
 On December 28, 1893, Mr. Chapman mar- 
 ried Elizabeth M. Ross, who was born in 
 Littleton, Me., a daughter of Joseph and 
 Hester (Weeks) Ross. Her mother was born 
 
 in St. John, N. B. Mrs. Chapman was edu- 
 cated at the Ricker Classical Institute in 
 Houlton, Aroostook County, Me., and pre- 
 vious to her marriage she taught school in 
 that town. Mr. Chapman is a Democrat in 
 politics, and a member of the Middleburg 
 Tribe of Red Men and of Gilboa Lodge, F. & 
 A. M. Mr. antl Mrs. Chapman are both 
 members of the Eastern Star Lodge, F. & 
 A. M., of Gilboa. 
 
 .» 
 
 ANIEL D. FRISBIE, editor and 
 l5) I proprietor of the Schoharie Rcpnbli- 
 can, was born in Middleburg, his 
 present home, on November 30, 1859. Son 
 of Grandison Norton and Kate (Dodge) Fris- 
 bie, he is the representative of a family that 
 has done much to promote the industrial, edu- 
 cational, and political advancement of this 
 county. The family traces its line back to 
 New England ancestry, and two of its early 
 members in this country bore officers' commis- 
 sions and served with distinction in the Con- 
 tinental army during the Revolution. A bio- 
 graphical sketch of Grandison Norton Frisbie 
 appears on another page of this volume. 
 
 The Dodge family were among the early 
 settlers of the county, coming from New Eng- 
 land and becoming allied by marriage with 
 the good old L)utch stock, of which Colonel 
 Zelie, of Revolutionary fame, was the best 
 early representative, and the Hon. Daniel 
 Danforth Dodge, grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, was later the most prominent, 
 having represented this county in the State 
 
300 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 legislature and attained the greatest success 
 as a merchant and financier. 
 
 Daniel D. I'risbic was educated in the 
 schools of his native town and at Hartwick 
 Seminary, one of the oldest seats of learning 
 in the State. At the latter institution he 
 laid the foundation of a thorough, broad, and 
 liberal education, developing marked literary 
 tastes, wiiich in after years found opportunity 
 in journalism for employment. In the Philo- 
 phronean Society, of whicli he became presi- 
 dent, were brought out an aptitude for debate 
 and the qualities which have since made him 
 an easy, graceful, and forceful public speaker. 
 
 On the completion of his course at the sem- 
 inary, he entered actively upon a business 
 career which has proved singularly successful. 
 He accepted a clerkship in the store of his 
 father in the spring of 1876, and continued in 
 that capacity until 188 1, when lie was ad- 
 mitted to partnership. Later the firm became 
 G. N. Frisbie & Sons by the admission of his 
 brother. In 1892 the senior retired, and the 
 firm became D. D. & G. D. Frisbie, continu- 
 ing thus until April i, 1899, when a multi- 
 plicity of business cares lead the subject of 
 this sketch to retire in favor of his brother-in- 
 law, Nathaniel IMaiining, Jr. During the 
 twenty-three years of his connection with 
 the business he had the satisfaction of seeing 
 the modest country store develop into a modern 
 department store, the largest, perhaps, in the 
 county in ])oiiit of sales and stock carried, and 
 widely known for its exact and honorable 
 methods. 
 
 Believing that it is the duty of every citizen 
 
 to take an intelligent interest in public 
 affairs, Mr. Frisbie, within a year after at- 
 taining his majority, was made president of 
 the local Democratic Club in the fall of 1882, 
 and again in 1884, when Mr. Cleveland car- 
 ried New York and won the Presidency for his 
 party. It is worthy of remark that the town 
 of Middleburg in those years rolletl up the 
 largest Democratic majorities in a decade. 
 In 18S6-87 he was a member and treasurer of 
 the Democratic County Committee, rendering 
 valuable service. P'or several years he has 
 served as chairman of the Town Committee of 
 his party. Mr. Frisbie has never held a po- 
 litical office, but his services in behalf of the 
 Democratic party have been so conspicuous for 
 so many years tliat he has been i)rominently 
 mentioned for member of Assembly; and, if 
 merit meets with due reward in old Schoharie, 
 he will soon be thus honored. 
 
 Seeking a wider opportunity for the advo- 
 cacy of his political principles and for the 
 exercise of literary tastes, he purchased, Au- 
 gust, 1887, the Schoharie Republican, of the 
 estate of A. A. Hunt. The paper was estab- 
 lished in 18 19 by Derrick Van Vechten, and 
 is probably the second oldest in the State. 
 In January, 1896, its size was enlarged, and 
 its circulation has increased threefold under 
 the present management. Its columns are 
 rich with the best reading of the day, and its 
 hop reports are regarded as thoroughly reli- 
 able and com[)rehensive. As an advertising 
 medium it unc|uestionably takes the lead, as 
 its circulation is [iriiicipally among the large 
 purchasing classes of tlie .Schoharie valley. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 301 
 
 Politically, the Republican is soundly and un- 
 equivocally Democratic. It was established as 
 a Democratic organ, and has always been true 
 to its first principles. Its editorials are often 
 quoted in the leading papers of the State, and 
 it is regarded as in every way the equal of the 
 best coimty-seat papers to be found in the 
 Commonwealth. In 1894 the seventy-fifth 
 anniversary of its founding was celebrated; 
 and upon that occasion Mr. Frisbie purchased 
 the three-story block in the central part of 
 Schoharie, and made it the permanent home of 
 the paper. The editorial ofifices are on the 
 first floor, as are also the mechanical and job 
 printing departments. The composing-rooms 
 are on the second floor. 
 
 The esteem in which Mr. Frisbie is held 
 by his brethren of the press is shown by his 
 election in 1898 as second vice-president of 
 the Democratic State Editorial Association. 
 He is also a member of the State Editorial 
 Association, a non-partisan organization. 
 
 In recognition of his interest in the cause 
 of education, Mr. Frisliie was in 1893 ap- 
 pointed treasurer of Middleburg High School, 
 and was reappointed for a second term. In 
 1895 he was elected a member of the Board of 
 lulucation, and re-elected in 1898. Since 
 September, 1897, he has been president of the 
 board. In concert with his associates, the 
 school has been advanced to a proud position 
 among the educational institutions of the 
 State, its finances strengthened, and the num- 
 ber of its students increased. 
 
 In 1894, when the business men and farmers 
 of the interior counties felt severely the exac- 
 
 tions of the stock fire insurance companies, 
 Mr. Frisbie assisted, with others interested, 
 in the formation of the Mutual Fire Insurance 
 Company, became one of its directors and a 
 member of its Executive Committee. In 
 1897 the necessity arose for another company 
 in this county, and the Merchants' and 
 F'armers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company was 
 organized, with Daniel D. h'risbie as presi- 
 dent. The company during its two years' 
 existence has saved thousands of dollars to its 
 policy holders, and has accumulated a sub- 
 stantial surplus. In time it promises to be- 
 come one of the strongest institutions of the 
 county. 
 
 Mr. I'risbie is a director of the Midtlleburg 
 & Schoharie Railroad Company, and since 
 1894 has been its secretary and a member of 
 its Finance Committee. He is identified 
 with St. Mark's Lutheran Church, was for five 
 years superintendent of its Sunday-school, 
 and is at present its financial secretary. Of 
 fraternal orders he is a member of Middleburg 
 Lodge, No. 663, F". & A. M. ; and is also a 
 Past .Sachem of Oucongena Tribe, I. O. R. M., 
 No. 242. He is also president of the Colum- 
 bian Literary Union Association, which was 
 an inspiration to young men in Middleburg 
 for many years, and holds its reunion, Janu- 
 ary I, 1900. He is a hop-grower, and has 
 done much, through his paper and otherwise, 
 to advance the interests of the growers of the 
 county. 
 
 The latest enterprise to engage the atten- 
 tion of the subject of this sketch, and one that 
 he hopes to utilize largely for the public good, 
 
3°2 
 
 BIOGRAl'H ICAL REVIEW 
 
 is tlic mills and water privik't;e located mid- 
 way between Middlelnir;;- and Schoharie, 
 which he acquired April I, 1899. The mills 
 are being improved by the addition of modern 
 machinery, and their capacity greatly in- 
 creased. Under the l^'risbic Milling Com- 
 pany the business will be extended, and a 
 good market afforded farmers for their grain. 
 Mr. l'"risl)ie also has in mind the establish- 
 ment of an electric plant, to be ojierated by 
 water power, whereby the people of Middleburg 
 and Schoharie may have the benefit in their 
 business places, streets, and homes of that 
 great modern convenience, electric lights. 
 Should this be accomplished, a great public 
 service will be placetl to the credit of the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Frisbie was married in 1882 to Eleanor 
 Manning, third daughter of Nathaniel Man- 
 ning, ICsq., a leading citizen of Middleburg, 
 who traces his ancestry back to Governor 
 Bradford, first Plymouth colony, who came 
 over in the "Mayflower." The family was 
 among the earliest in the county, and has held 
 an honorable place in its annals. Mr. and 
 Mrs. I'"rishie are the parents of three children 
 — G. Norton, Cornelia M., and Daniel 
 Manninyf. 
 
 M 
 
 A\U) CllAMHKRS, a thriving agri- 
 culturist of Cobleskill, N.Y. , own- 
 ing and occupying a wcll-ini|)roved 
 farm of one hunthc'd and sixteen acres on the 
 Carlisle road, about ihice miles from the vil- 
 lage of Cobleskill, is one of the town's most 
 respected citizens. He was born Januar\- 11, 
 
 1837, in Carlisle, being a son of William 
 Chambers, who was born in the same town, 
 [une 2, 1 8 10. His paternal graiidfather, 
 David Chambers, first, was born and rearetl in 
 Charltcjn, Saratoga County, whence he removed 
 in 1800 to Carlisle, Schoharie Count\'. I'ur- 
 chasing three hundred acres of heavily tim- 
 bered land, Grandfather Chandlers began the 
 imiirovement of a homestead, on which he sub- 
 sequently resided until his death. 
 
 William Chambers was one of a familvof 
 ten children born in the old log house which 
 his father reared in the forest, and in common 
 with his bidtheis and sisters was etlucated in 
 the pioneer school of the district. .Soon alter 
 attaining his majority he ])inchased land near 
 the old homestead in Carlisle, and was there 
 successfully engaged in tilling the soil initil 
 1848. In that year he sold his projierty in 
 Carlisle, and, going to Cherry Vallc)- in 
 Otsego Comity, bought a farm that he owni-d 
 till his death, which occurred on April 22, 
 1899. He carried on general farming until 
 1890. l-'rom that time on he li\'ed retired 
 from active piu'suits, at the home of one of his 
 sons ill Decatur, not far from Cherry Valley. 
 He was a strong Republican in politics anil 
 a member of the Christian clnnch, to which 
 his gonil wife also belonged. Her maiden 
 name was ]5etsey Salisbury. She was born in 
 Carlisle, and was a daughter of James Salis- 
 burv, formerly of Alban\- Comity. .She died 
 at the age of seventy-five years. Of her eight 
 children these six ai'e still living: Maiy, 
 Da\id, James, Norman, Stewart, and l'",liza- 
 beth. 
 
WILLIAM H. BALDWIN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 30s 
 
 Ua\icl Chambers completed his education at 
 the Cherry Valley High School, and after- 
 ward, until he was twenty-three years old, as- 
 sisted his father in the labors of the home 
 farm. He then married, February 15, i860, 
 Catherine M. Richtmyer, daughter of Christian 
 Kichtmyer, a farmer of Cobleskill. Mr. 
 Richtmyer was born, and he li\'ed and died, on 
 the farm which Mr. Chambers now occupies, 
 and which he has managed to good purpose 
 ever since his marriage, now thirty-nine years 
 ago. He carries on general farming, raising 
 principally hops and hay, although he has 
 other crops, and pays some attention to raising 
 sheep of the Shropshire breed. He has on his 
 ])lace a fine grove of maple-trees, from which 
 he makes considerable sugar each season. The 
 original owner of this homestead was Conrad 
 Richtmyer, Mrs. Chambers's grandfather, who 
 was one of the first settlers of the town, coming 
 here with his family when his son Christian 
 was about three years old. This son succeeded 
 to the ownership of the paternal acres, and here 
 reared his two children — one son, Elias, and 
 one daughter — Mrs. Chambers being the only 
 sur\'i\'or. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers have one 
 child, Florence. She is the wife of Adam J. 
 Karker, and has four children — Orrin C, 
 Blanche M., Lloyd D., and Myra A. Mr. 
 Karker and his family reside with Mr. and 
 Mrs. Chambers, and he assists in the manage- 
 ment of the homestead property, although he 
 has a fine farm of his own near by. 
 
 In politics Mr. Chambers has always affili- 
 ated with the Republican party, which is in 
 the minority in this section of the State, and 
 
 he has the distinction of being the only Super- 
 visor elected on that ticket in Schoharie 
 County for thirty years. He held the office 
 in the years 1894 and 1895, being elected by 
 a majority of forty-three votes in a town whose 
 Democratic majority was usually three hun- 
 dred. He attends and liberally supports the 
 Dutch I'lefnrmed church, of which Mrs. Cham- 
 bers is a member. 
 
 W/ILLIAM H. BALDWIN, New Bal- 
 timore, N.Y. — The Baldwins are of 
 English descent. Their ancestors held the 
 manor of Osterarsfee in Aylesbury, Bucking- 
 hamshire, in the time of Henry II. The 
 owner of the manor in 1 igo was Sylvester 
 Baldwin, known as Aylesbury. In 1546 the 
 manor of Dundridge, Aston-Clinton, four miles 
 from Aylesbury, was added to the estate. In 
 1638 Silvester Baldwin embarked for America 
 in the ship "Martin," accompanied by his 
 wife, two sons, Richard and John, and four 
 daughters. He died during the passage, and 
 his will was admittetl to probate in Boston the 
 same year. He left a large estate. His fam- 
 ily settled in New Haven, Conn. His son 
 John, after losing his wife and child, settled 
 in New London in 1664. In 1672 John mar- 
 ried again, and removed to Stonington. His 
 son Theophilus married Priscilla Mason, 
 grand-daughter of the famous Captain John 
 Mason, who led the settlers against the Pequod 
 Indians in 1637, and destroyed the tribe. 
 
 John Baldwin, son of Theophilus and Pris- 
 cilla (Mason) Baldwin, married lumice Spald- 
 
3o6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ing. Their son Ziba, born in 1752, was the 
 great-grandfather of William H. Baldwin. 
 
 W'illiam H. Baldwin was married in 1874 
 to Kittie Van Bergen, daughter of John Van 
 Bergen, of Coxsackie, N.Y. She died in 
 1876, the infant daughter Lizzie surviving her 
 a few months. 
 
 In 1880 William II. Baldwin married Lillie 
 Summers Jones, of I'liiladelphia. Mrs. Bald- 
 win is a member of the Chester County Chap- 
 ter of the D. A. R. Her ancestors were 
 among the earliest settlers of Pennsjhania. 
 Her great-grandfather, Colonel Jonathan Jfmes, 
 served his country in the capacity of Captain, 
 Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel of the 
 Continental army, being promoted after active 
 service in the campaign in C"ana<la in 1776. 
 
 C^.VRSHALL I). BICK, of Schoharie, 
 dealer in gentlemen's furnishing 
 goods, hats, caps, boots and shoes, 
 in business on Main Street, was born in this 
 town on June I, 1837, son of Joshua and 
 Jemima (Beadle) I^ice. His grandfather, 
 Aaron Bice, was a native of Holland. He 
 came to New York in early manhood, lived for 
 a time in Dutchess County, and subsequently 
 remo\ed to Schoharie, where he sjient the last 
 years of his life. 
 
 Joshua Bice, abo\e named, who was born in 
 Dutchess County, was brought up on a farm, 
 and was early accustomed to farm work. He 
 also learned the shoemaker's trade. He came 
 to this town shortly alter his marriage, and 
 settled 1)11 a small farm which he carried (jn. 
 
 engaging in shoemaking during his spare time. 
 A man of great industry and very frugal, by 
 degrees he added to his property till he was 
 the owner of one hundred and twenty acres. 
 
 He resided here si.\ty-two years in all, and 
 died at the age of eighty-one. He was an old- 
 fashioned, zealous Methodist, always active in 
 church work, and was one of those who took a 
 leading part in building the Methodist church 
 edifice at East Cobleskill. He also took a 
 warm interest in the Sunday-school. It is 
 said that in e\ery-day life he applied the prin- 
 ciples he professed to belie\e. His wife, 
 Jemima, who also was an active church worker, 
 was born in Dutchess County. They reared a 
 family of thirteen children, only three of whom 
 are living. These are : Levi M., Marshall D., 
 and Asher. 
 
 Marshall D. Bice received a practical educa- 
 tion in the public schools of Schoharie, and 
 subsec|uently, at the age of si.xteen, began his 
 working life as clerk in the store of O. 15. 
 Throop in this village. Three jears later he 
 went to I'.ast Cobleskill, where for three years 
 he was in partnershi[) with his father. At the 
 end of that time he removed to Cobleskill and 
 started in business for himself,- which he con -^ 
 tinned for two )'ears. Cjoing then to New 
 York Cit)', he was employed for two years in 
 a wholesale hat store. This brought him up 
 to the close of 1S63, and in December of that 
 year he enlisted in Company H of the Third 
 New York Regiment of Cavalry. Lor a \ear 
 he remained in New York Harbor at draft ren- 
 dezvous ; but at the end of that time he was ap- 
 i:)ointetl Lieutenant of a company of ca\alry. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 307 
 
 and went to the front, joining his regiment at 
 Petersburg. Later his company went to Nor- 
 folk to do general duty, and thence to North 
 Carolina, where Mr. Bice was appointed a 
 provost-marshal. Subsequently he was assist- 
 ant provost-marshal at Norfolk, Va. , and then 
 Aide-de-camp on General Mann's staff. After 
 being mustered out of the ser\'ice in 1865, he 
 remained at Norfolk, Va., for a year and a half, 
 and was engaged in bu^-ing uj) government 
 horses and mules at auction and selling them 
 at private sale. In addition to this he carried 
 on some mercantile business. Pie then re- 
 ceived an appointment as United States In- 
 spector of Spirits at Chicago, and went to that 
 city. Returning to his native town at the end 
 of nine months, he engaged in the general gro- 
 cery and house furnishing business, which he 
 continued for ten years, or up tu 1894, when he 
 purchased the block where he is now carrying 
 on business. He put in a large stock of goods, 
 and has met with all the success he could have 
 hoped for. 
 
 Mr. Bice was married in 1879 to Melissa M. 
 Jones, who was born in Duanesburg, N. Y. In 
 politics he is a Democrat. He has been Con- 
 stable for some years, also Overseer of the 
 Poor, but has refused all other public offices. 
 Forty years ago he joined Schoharie Valley 
 Lodge, No. 491, F. & A. M., and he is at the 
 present time the oldest member of this lodge. 
 He has been Master for several years, and has 
 filled all the other offices. In 1861 he joined 
 the Chapter of Canajoharie, antl in 1863 he 
 joined the Masonic chaj^ter at Cobleskill, 
 being one of its charter members. He is a 
 
 member of the Schoharie Lodge of Odd Fel- 
 lows, and has for many years been connected 
 with the fire department. Mr. Bice attends 
 the Methodist church, and is a trustee of the 
 society. 
 
 M 
 
 AVIL) M. HINMAN, the popular 
 IC) J merchant of New Baltimore, Greene 
 Comity, N.Y., was born in this town 
 on the last day of January, 1S63. He is the 
 only surviving son of the late William C. 
 Hinman, who established the Hinman store, 
 and who for many years was one of the leading 
 citizens of New Baltimore. Mr. David M. 
 Hinman's grandfather was a native of Connect- 
 icut, and came from that State to Albany 
 County, New York, when it was being cleared 
 and settled. He was a school teacher by pro- 
 fession, and followed that calling through a 
 long life. He taught music as well as the 
 common branches of learning. He died at the 
 age of eighty. 
 
 William C. Hinman was born in Albany 
 County, and reared on a farm near Ravena. 
 He pursued his studies in the district school, 
 and in addition was privately instructed by his 
 father. In early life he learned the carpenter's 
 trade. Later he became a tradesman on a 
 small scale near Utica, and subsequent to that 
 he came to New Baltimore. Here he was 
 clerk for John G. Raymond for a time, and he 
 subsequently established the business, which 
 has since become the largest of its kind in the 
 town. The buildings now in use were built 
 by him some time after the business was 
 started. At first he was in partnership with 
 
3o8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIFAV 
 
 his brother, Herman II. Hinman, later with 
 William I-'ullcr clown to 1876. Then for 
 eleven years, or up to the time of his death in 
 1887, he carried on the business alone. He 
 died aged si\ty-nine years. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Jane Terry, was born in 
 Coeymans, N. Y. She was one of the ten chil- 
 dren of John Terry, a lifelong farmer of that 
 place. She is now seventy-five years of age. 
 Of her seven children three are living — Kliz- 
 abeth, Annie, and David .M. JJoth Mr. and 
 Mrs. William C. Hinman were active in the 
 affairs of the Methodist church, and both 
 worked earnestly to secure the building of the 
 church edifice, Mr. Hinman being on the com- 
 mittee ha\ing the matter in charge. He was 
 for years the strong man in the church, and to 
 him all looked for counsel. He was a Re|)ub- 
 lican in politics. At the time of his death he 
 was the oldest merchant in the town. 
 
 David M. Hinman attended the public 
 schools of New Baltimore, and subsequently 
 received ])ri\ate instruction for some time. 
 He went to work in the store at an carlv age, 
 and .soon became his father's most trusted and 
 efficient clerk. I'pon the death of his father 
 he succeeded to the business, which he has 
 since successfully managed. He carries a 
 large stock of general merchandise, including 
 groceries and ])rovisions, dry goods, hardware, 
 paints, oils, glass, oil-cloths, and ladies' and 
 gentlemen's furnishing goods. The store has 
 been the largest in the town since it was 
 started fifty years ago. Mr. Ilinman's sister 
 now acts as book-keeper, and she is also the 
 operator on the Western Union Telegraph 
 
 line here. Tiiere is a long distance tele- 
 phone in tile store. .Mr. Hinman has in a 
 measure stepped into the place his father for- 
 merly occupied in the church. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Hoard of Stewards, for si.\ )ears has 
 been superintendent of the Sunday-school, and 
 he is vice-president of the l^pworth League, of 
 which he has been a member ever since the 
 branch here was organized. His politics are 
 Republican. He has held the office of Town 
 Clerk for a year. 
 
 ^UDSON BURHANS, junior member of 
 the enterprising firm of Borst & Bur- 
 hans, Cobleskill, N.Y., millers, maiiu- 
 factmers of buckwheat, wheat, r)'e, and graham 
 flours, and custom grinders of general feed, is 
 a well-known business man of this town. He 
 was born the first day of January, 1849, ''i 
 Carlisle, Schoharie County, which was also 
 the birthplace of his father, John Burhans. 
 
 The emigrant ancestor of the Ihuhans familv 
 emigrated fiom Holland to the .State of New 
 "\'ork ill the se\enteentli centvn\-. Mr. (ndson 
 Burhans's grandfather, Peter Burhans, spent 
 the early part of his life in Greene County, 
 New York, whence he removed to Carlisle with 
 his parents. He married Annie Hummel, 
 the descendant of a Dutch family of (hx-ene 
 County, and was the father of eight children, 
 of whom two are yet li\ing. His wife died in 
 Carlisle at the age of threescore and ten years. 
 John Burhans, son of Peter and father of 
 Judson, recei\ed his education in the tlistrict 
 schools of Carlisle, anil on the i)arental farm 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3" 
 
 was well drilled in the \ariiius branches of 
 agriculture. Deciding to make farming his 
 life occupation, he purchased the old home- 
 stead when he became of age, and from that 
 time until his death, at the age of seventy-six 
 years, carried on general farming most success- 
 fully. He married Lavinia Loucks, who was 
 born in Carlisle, the daughter of Peter Loucks, 
 a well-to-do farmer, and descendant of an early 
 settler of the town. Si.\ children were the 
 fruit of their union, namely: Judson, the sub- 
 ject of this brief sketch; Andrew; Melvin ; 
 Peter; Romeyn ; and Walton. Mrs. Burhans 
 is still li\'ing, an acti\-e woman of sex'enty 
 years. She is a member of the Lutheran 
 church, to which her husband also belonged. 
 
 Judson Burhans attended the district school 
 until fifteen years old, when he began working 
 out as a farm laborer and carpenter's appren- 
 tice. After learning the trade he worked at 
 carj)entering in the summer season and taught 
 school winters for ten years, finding time also 
 to fit himself for a book-keeper at the Pough- 
 keejisie lousiness College. After that he was 
 employed as a book-keeper at Cobleskill for a 
 while, and then went to Albany, where he was 
 engaged as a commission merchant from 1882 
 until 18S6, when he disposed of his business 
 in that city and returned to Cobleskill. ]^uy- 
 ing an interest in the Cobleskill mills, he has 
 since, with the co-operation of his partner, Mr. 
 Borst, materially increased the capacity of the 
 jjlant, which now produces on an average one 
 lunitbed barrels of buckwheat flour, fifty barrels 
 of rye flour, and forty tons of feed every 
 twenty-four hours. These gentlemen make a 
 
 specialty of buckwheat flour, which they manu- 
 facture from a number one grain, bought di- 
 rectly from the producer; and for the past few 
 years they ha\'e sold to wholesale and retail 
 dealers in all parts of the Union large amounts 
 of their "Sure Rising Buckwheat," which is 
 jjronounced by the trade to be one of the most 
 popular on the market, ri\alling Hecker's, the 
 Martha Washington, and the I. X. L. brands. 
 
 On July 24, 1S78, Mr. Burhans married 
 Miss Mary K. Becker, one of the si.\ children 
 of Francis Becker, formerly a miller in this 
 part of Schoharie County, but later a resident 
 of Berne, Albany County. She was born and 
 educated in Gallupville, a village not far from 
 Colbeskill. Mr. and Mrs. I^urhans have two 
 children — Frank J. and Flla Ploy, both of 
 whom are in school. 
 
 P'raternally, Mr. Burhans belongs to the 
 Albany Lodge of Odd Fellows. He also 
 joined the Improved Order of Red Men while 
 li\ing in that city. He was one of the incor- 
 porators of the I'armers' and Mechanics' Bank 
 of Cobleskill, and is one of its directorate. In 
 politics he is independent, voting with the 
 courage of his convictions for the best men and 
 best measures, regardless of party ties. He 
 attends the Methodist lipiscopal church, of 
 which Mrs. Burhans is an active member. 
 
 ^>KTFR MAGEE, a well-kn..wn ship- 
 builder of Athens, N.Y., was born 
 on November 23, 1838, in Baltimore, 
 Md., where his parents, John and Anna (Ca- 
 hill) Magee, settled when they emigrated to 
 
3' = 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 this country from Ireland. He is the only one 
 now living of a family of eight children. Hoth 
 father and mother were members of the Catho- 
 lic church. The mother died at the age of 
 seventy -one. 
 
 Mr. Magee was reared in ]3altiniore, and in 
 his childhood attended a parochial school in 
 that city. When he was onU' thirteen years 
 oUl, his father died and he hatl to begin to as- 
 sist his widowed mother. He learned the 
 shii)-builder's trade, serving a four years' ap- 
 prenticeship with John J. Abraham, who was 
 reckoned one of the best ship-builders in that 
 region. When he had completed his period 
 of apprenticeship, he began working for Mr. 
 Abraham as a journeyman, and in a short 
 time was recei\'ing higher wages than anv 
 other man in the _\ard. After this he spent 
 one year in Mound City, III. ; and, when he 
 returned, he again engaged with Mr. Abraham. 
 Leaving Baltimore a second time and going 
 to New York Cit\-, he worked a while for 
 Theodore Roosevelt, now Governor of the 
 State, several niimths lor William 11. Webb, 
 and then put up a vessel for \'an IJuzen 
 Brothers. He next entered the service of the 
 United States as a mechanic at Port Ro\al, 
 and there remained two years and one month. 
 Upon leasing Port Royal he came to New 
 ^'o|■k and todk a contract foi' work at the foot 
 of Si.xteenth Street, being then only twenty- 
 three years of age. After executing this to 
 the satisfaction of all concerned, he went to 
 work for Simonson, the ship-builder, this 
 being during the eight-hour strike. 
 
 Sul)se(|ucntl\' he was employed in Mr. 
 
 J. R. lialdwin's yard at New Baltimore, and 
 from that place he came to Athens and started 
 business for himself. He was first in com- 
 pany with Mr. Matthias \'an Loan in 1S71, 
 and this partnershij) continued for twenty 
 years, the firm being known as \'an Loan & 
 Magee. Since i,S,S8 Mr. Magee has been 
 without a partnei-. During the time he has 
 been in the yard here he has built over two 
 hundred vessels, and has rebuilt many more. 
 He is one of the best known and most repu- 
 table ship-buiklers in this region. His son 
 Joseph acts as his foreman. 
 
 Mr. Magee was mairied in 1S71 to Mary J. 
 McCabe, who was born in (ii-eene Counts'. 
 She has borne him three chiklren: Jose[)h, 
 above mentioned; Mary; and Hannah. All 
 the children have received a public-school edu- 
 cation. The daughters reside with their i>ar- 
 ents. Joseph mai-ried Mary Brennan. 
 
 Mr. Magee is a Democrat in politics, and 
 for many \ears has been member (jf trnvii and 
 county committees. He has attended man)- 
 conventions as delegate. In 1S.S5 he was 
 elected .Sheriff ot the county, ami tor the three 
 succeeding years he efficiently filled that 
 office. He has been a member of the .School 
 Board foi- thirt)- years, and for the sanie length 
 of time a Trustee of the \ illage. 
 
 Mr. Magee's house is one u( the finest in 
 Athens. He jnits a large amount of money in 
 circidation in the town es'ery week when lie 
 pays off his hirce of workmen. He and his 
 family attenil the Catholic chuich. I'hvy aie 
 actively interested in all efforts to promote the 
 welfare of the communitv. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3^3 
 
 lUTHER ZELIE, a wide-awake, enter- 
 prising business man of Fulton, Scho- 
 harie County, prosperously engaged 
 as a general merchant in the \'illage of Break- 
 abeen, was born in this town on July 7, 1874. 
 The son of h^phraim and Helen (Becker) Zelie, 
 he is the representative of one of the earlier 
 families of this jiart of the county, and comes 
 of patriotic stock, his great-grandfather, Colo- 
 nel Zelie, of the Revolutionary armv, having 
 had command oi the U])per Fort in Fulton 
 during the Colonial struggle for independence. 
 
 Peter Zelie, son of Colonel Zelie and 
 grandfather of Luther, sj^ent his entire life of 
 seventy-five years in Fulton, and here married 
 Eliza Vroman. He was a carpenter, and fol- 
 lowed his trade until well advanced in years, 
 when he retired from work, and spent his re- 
 maining days with his son Ephraim. His 
 wife survi\ed him, attaining the age of four- 
 score years. Both were devout members of 
 the Reformed church. They had eleven chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Ephraim Zelie, the father above named, was 
 born in 1839 '•'' I'ulton, and obtained his edu- 
 cation in the district schools. At the age of 
 ten years he began working out, and from that 
 time fought the battle of life for himself. 
 When old enough to labor at the anvil, he 
 learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he 
 subsequently worked as a journeyman in differ- 
 ent parts of Schoharie County. Going then to 
 Cleveland, Ohio, he remained there three 
 years, but preferring to establish himself per- 
 manently in New York he returned home, and 
 in 1 861 located in Breakabeen, where he con- 
 
 tinued at his trade for twenty years. From 
 that time until his death, May 20, 1S97, he 
 lived on a farm in Fulton. He was a firm 
 supjrorter of the principles of the Democratic 
 party, and served for a while as Collector of 
 Taxes. He married Helen Becker, one of the 
 two children of Henry and Rebecca (Berg) 
 Becker. Her father, who was a farmer, died 
 at the age of fifty years, and her mother died 
 at the age of forty-eight. Five children were 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Zelie, and of 
 these two are living; namely, Luther and 
 Laura, twins. Laura is the wife of Floyd 
 Mattice, of North Blenheim. ]?oth parents 
 were active members of the Lutheran church, 
 in which the father served as an Elder, besides 
 holding other offices, being for a number of 
 years a teacher in the Sunday-school. 
 
 Luther Zelie in boyhood and youth attended 
 successively the village schools of Fulton and 
 the Middleburg High School, and afterward 
 completed the course of study at the Albany 
 Business College. Returning to Fulton, he 
 taught school a year in this town, and then 
 began his mercantile career as a clerk in the 
 store of Cottrell & Leonard, hatters and fur- 
 riers in Albany, where he remained three 
 years. Coming to Breakabeen in 1895, Mr. 
 Zelie bought out the long-established business 
 of Mr. E. Patterson, a well-known merchant, 
 and has since conducted the store with emi- 
 nent success. Lie has considerably increased 
 the original stock, carrying now a complete 
 assortment of groceries, provisions, boots, 
 shoes, hats, gentlemen's clothing and furnish- 
 ing goods, and also a full line of hardware, 
 
314 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in all of which he has built uj) a substantial 
 trade. 
 
 On January 26, 1898, Mr. Luther Zelie was 
 united in marriage with Miss Kcziah Shafer, 
 danj,diter of Joseph A. Shafer, of Breakabeen. 
 
 Mr. Zelie i.sanOdd l'"ellow, being a mem- 
 ber of Ulenlieim Lodge, L O. (1 ]•". In poli- 
 tics he affiliates with the Democratic party, 
 and is now serving as I'own Clerk. He and 
 liis wife are faithful membeis of the Lutheran 
 church and of the Sunday-school connected 
 with it, Mr. Zelie being the superintendent of 
 the school. 
 
 "C|GBI':Rr J^. D(^DGI<:, of Ashland, was 
 J L! born in Cireenville, Greene County, 
 
 N.\'., ( )ctober 24, 1S22, son of Andrew and 
 Ruth (lilackniar) D(]dge. He is a grandson of 
 Moses Dodge, who mo\ed his family from 
 Massachusetts to Frceh(jld, (jreene County, in 
 1804, and followed the blacksmith's trade in 
 connection with other mechanical occupations 
 for the rest of his life. Moses Dodge is said 
 to have been a descendant of William Dodge, 
 one of the early settlers of .Salem, Mass. 
 
 Andrew Dodge, father of JCgbert H. , was 
 born in Ahissaehusetts. When a young man 
 he engaged in farming in I''reehold. From 
 181 5 to 1847 he carried on a general store, 
 and he also manufactuied potash. I lis last 
 days were spent in letirement upon his farm, 
 and he died at the age of eight)- one years. 
 He served as Postmaster for thirty years. In 
 politics he was originally a Whig and later a 
 Republican. Dniiiig the somewhat violent 
 agitation against the Masonic traternit)- which 
 
 took place in his day, he sided with the op[)o- 
 nents, and was known as an anti- Mason. An- 
 drew Dodge married Ruth Klackmar, a native 
 of Great Harrington, Mass., daughter of Abel 
 Hlackmar, a prosperous farmer and cattle 
 dealer. She became the mother of ten chil- 
 dren, three of whom are living; namely, Eg- 
 bert ]1, Augusta, and Louisa. Augu.sta is the 
 widow of the Rev. John N. Spoor; anil Louisa 
 married Daniel G. Searles, of Greenville. 
 ]\Irs. Ruth Dodge died at the age of fifty-five 
 years. The parents of Ruth Dodge were mem- 
 bers of the Christian church, of which she was 
 also a member. 
 
 Egbert 1^. Dodge obtained his knowledge of 
 the primary branches of learning in the com- 
 mon schools of Freehold, ami completed his 
 studies at the academy in (ireenville. He 
 taught several terms of school in Greene and 
 Dutchess Counties previous to 1847. In that 
 year he engaged in trade at Freehold, where he 
 continued in business some thirteen years, and 
 in i860 he removed to Ashland. Securing a 
 site adjoining the hotel, he opened a general 
 store, which for the succeeding two years was 
 the only source of suppl\' in this \'icinity. He 
 was therefore called upon to carry a varied 
 stock, which was transported from New \'ork 
 City by river boats to CatskiU. ,\fter being 
 out of business two years he (in 1869) built 
 a new store; and, putting in a large stock of 
 general menhandise, he continued in trade 
 until 18S0, when he was succeeded by his son. 
 .■\fter being relieved of the cares of business 
 he could not remain idle, preferring instead to 
 continue in the store; and as Assistant Post- 
 
EGBERT B. DODGE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 317 
 
 master he has handled the mails here for the 
 past thirty years. He was Postmaster under 
 President Fillmore and during a part of the 
 Pierce administration. He has witnessed 
 many changes and improvements in the postal 
 service, and has a distinct remendjrancc of 
 the days when stages were the only means of 
 conveyance. He has voted at every Presiden- 
 tial election since 1844, when he supported 
 the candidacy of Henry Clay, and is now a 
 Republican. He served as a Supervisor in 
 1 868, as Town Clerk in 1870, was a Justice of 
 the Peace for fourteen years, and has settled 
 many estates. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Dodge was united in marriage 
 with Eliza C. Sax, who was born in Cairo, 
 Greene County, daughter of Jacob Sax, the 
 descendant of an early Dutch settler and a 
 prosperous farmer of that town. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Dodge reared three children ; namely, Francis, 
 Edgar S. , and Ella M. Dodge. P^rancis suc- 
 ceeded his father in business, and is now the 
 leading merchant in this section, also Post- 
 master at the present time. He married Mary 
 Clark, and has two children — Frederick C. 
 and F'lorence. lulgar S. , who is a horse 
 dealer, married Sarah Frances Martin. Pllla 
 M. married Edward Snow, a carpenter of 
 Kingston, and has three children — Herbert, 
 Harold, and Laura. Mrs. IHiza C. Dodge 
 died August 28, 1897, aged sixty-six years. 
 
 As an intelligent, progressive, and public- 
 spirited citizen, who can be depended upon for 
 assistance in forwarding any movement calcu- 
 lated to be of benefit to the community, Mr. 
 Dodge is highly esteemed by his fellow-towns- 
 
 men, among whom he has for years been a 
 prominent and infiuential figure. He pos- 
 sesses an extensive knowledge of the town's 
 history for the past thirty-eight years, has been 
 a careful reader of instructive books, and his 
 judgment in matters of public importance is 
 still sought for and relied upon. He was for- 
 merly a member of the Independent Order of 
 Odd P^ellows. In his religious belief he is a 
 Presbyterian, and his son Francis is promi- 
 nently identified with the Presbyterian church. 
 
 T^HARLES P. McCABE, M.D., of 
 I J| Greenville, one of the foremost prac- 
 ^ — ^ tising physicians of Greene County, 
 was born on August 11, 1856, in the house 
 where his father, Bradley Selleck McCabe, 
 M. D. , now resides. His family is an old one 
 in the count)', having been prominent here 
 since 1783, when Stephen McCabe, his great- 
 grandfather, settled in New Baltimore. 
 
 Stephen McCabe was born in New Jersey in 
 1755. During the Revolution he enlisted and 
 served for a time in the Continental army. 
 At the close of the war he came to New Balti- 
 more with his wife, Mary P'arrar, and their 
 family, his son Benjamin being then three 
 years of age. There he settled on the estate 
 now owned by Hiram Miller. 
 
 Benjamin McCabe, the third son, was mar- 
 ried in 181 2 to Sarah Gedney, of New Balti- 
 more, and continued to reside on his father's 
 place till 1825, when he purcha.sed and re- 
 moved to the farm now occupied by Mrs. Cath- 
 
3>8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 cart. In 1834 he bought and rcniovcd to the 
 farm now owned by Adam Lorcnz. Benja- 
 min's wife, Sarah, was tiie daughter of Joshua 
 Gedney, who was one of the ])ioiicer settlers of 
 New Baltimore, where he became the owner of 
 a fine farm. He was born in W'estchester 
 Count}', of which his father was an early set- 
 tlei", and it was on his father's land in that 
 county that the battle of White Plains took 
 place. Joshua Gedney and his wife, whose 
 maiden name was ]?ennett, were zealous Meth- 
 odists, and their descendants to the present 
 generation ha\e continued in the faith of that 
 church. Mrs. Gedney died at sevent\. She 
 was born in Westchester County. Her chil- 
 dren were: Peter, Bartholomew, Joshua, Sam- 
 uel, Absalom, Sarah, Hannah, and Patience. 
 Of Benjamin McCabe it has been written, "He 
 was possessed of a discriminating mind and a 
 sound judgment, and was never known to shed 
 a tear nor to laugh audibly, so perfectly were 
 his passions under his control." He died on 
 November 6, 1855, sur\iving his wife only 
 nine da)s. He was the father of the follow- 
 ing-named children : Caroline, Jane, Hamil- 
 ton, Bartholomew G. , Bradley S., Philip E. , 
 and Mary. Of these, Hamilton J., the eldest 
 son, has f(jr many years been engaged in the 
 tin and hardware business in Greenville vil- 
 lage; and Bartholomew (}., the second son, 
 who was graduated in medicine, died at De- 
 posit, Delaware County, N. Y. 
 
 Bradley Selleck McCabe, M.D., lather of 
 the subject of this sketch, received his medical 
 diploma from the Albany Medical College in 
 1850, and shortly entered on the duties of his 
 
 profession in partnership with Dr. Gideon 
 Botsford, with whom he had begun the study 
 of medicine some years before, after attending 
 Greenville Academy. The late Di-. Botsforil 
 was a notable man of his time in Greenville, 
 and had a very large jiractice. Dr. ]\IcCabe, 
 who has been his worth}- successor, is known 
 throughout the county for his skill both in 
 medicine and in surgery. He has been for a 
 number of years a member of the Board of 
 Trustees of Greenville Academy. lie rep- 
 resented his town in the Board of .Supervisors 
 six years, was twice chairman of the Board. 
 He Jias also represented the county in the 
 State legislature. 
 
 lie was married on June 26, 1850, to Mary 
 L., youngest daughter of the late Dr. Amos 
 Botsford. Three children have been born to 
 him — Amos B., Charles P., and George G. 
 Amos B. McCabe, who has been in the sub- 
 treasury in New York City since 1890, was 
 born on September 17, 1852, and during early 
 manhood engaged in agricultural pursuits. He 
 married Helen Kyle, of Albanv, arid has two 
 children — John C. and Mary B. , the son 
 being now in the employ of the New York 
 Life Insurance Company. George G. McCabe 
 was born on June 26, i860. He was formerl\- 
 in the employ of P. W'inne & Co., of this 
 place, but is now carrying on a drug business 
 for himself. He was Postmaster for eight 
 }ears under Cleveland, and he is the present 
 Supervisor of the town. He married Emme- 
 line .Stevens, the ceremony taking place on 
 January 8, 1895. Dr. Bradley S. McCabe 
 was Postmaster for tour years untler I'ranklin 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 319 
 
 Pierce, and also under James ]?uchanan. He 
 was formerly connected with the Odd Fellows, 
 and was for some years an active worker in 
 that organization. 
 
 Charles P. McCabe after attending the 
 Greenville Academy went to Boston, Mass., 
 and entered the Conservatory under the famous 
 teacher, Petersilea, where he remained for two 
 years. Returning to his native place, he 
 taught music for some years, but in 1880 
 began the study of medicine with his father. 
 Subsequently he entered the Medical College 
 at Albany, and in March, 1883, took his de- 
 gree from that institution. After some time 
 spent in the Boston hospitals and attendance 
 on the clinics there, he came back to Green- 
 ville and settled to practise with his father, 
 continuing in partnership with him till 1890. 
 He has since practised alone. He has patients 
 in all the surrounding towns over a radius of 
 fifteen miles, and besides his extensive medi- 
 cal practice has many difficult surgical cases. 
 He built his present residence in 1889. 
 
 Dr. Charles P. McCabe was married on Sep- 
 tember 10, 1884, to Helena F. , eldest daughter 
 of the late Robert Elliott, of Hunter, a sketch 
 of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Of 
 this union three children have been born, of 
 whom Clara, the eldest, died at the age of four- 
 teen months, and Millicent at the age of five 
 and a half years. One daughter is living, 
 Dorothy K. In religious faith Dr. Charles P. 
 McCabe is a Methodist. Both he and his wife 
 are prominent workers in the church, and he 
 has been superintendent of the Sunday-school 
 and for many years one of the stewards. For 
 
 many years he sang in the choir, and formerly 
 he held the position of organist. He orga- 
 nized the Greenville Musical Union, a chorus 
 of seventy voices, and so great was its reputa- 
 tion that at one time the largest hall in the 
 town was filled on six successive evenings to 
 listen to it. Mrs. McCabe was a teacher in 
 the Sunday-school for many years, and also 
 sang and acted as organist. She is a graduate 
 of Kingston Academy and of Chamberlaine 
 College in Randolph, N.Y. She was born in 
 Hunter. 
 
 Dr. Charles P. McCabe is a member of the 
 New York State Medical Society, and is now 
 president of the Greene County Medical Soci- 
 ety. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1S93 
 he was elected and served as Supervisor, but 
 he refused to accept the nomination a second 
 time, and has uniformly declined to run for 
 other offices, feeling that his practice needs 
 his undivided attention. He is, however, con- 
 nected with various fraternal societies, namely : 
 with James M. Austin Lodge of Masons, of 
 which he was Master for three terms; with 
 Zeus Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of 
 which he was Chancellor for two years, and of 
 which he is a charter member and was the first 
 commanding officer. He has unusual business 
 aptitude. He is president of the Greene 
 County Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and 
 was formerly president of the Village Fire As- 
 sociation, which operates in Greene, Albany, 
 Delaware, and Schoharie Counties, and he is 
 a director in both companies. Ever since the 
 Greenville Board of Education was organized 
 he has been one of its most active members. 
 
320 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ilIRISTIAN RECTOR, who owns a 
 good farm in Glenvillc, N. Y., on the 
 banks of the Mohawk River, was 
 born wlierc he now resides on October i6, 
 1S36, son of William and Susan (Haverley) 
 Rector. 
 
 William Rector was a native of this State. 
 Settling when a young man upon the farm his 
 son now owns, he successfully followed agri- 
 cultural pursuits for the rest of his active 
 period. He took a leading part in public 
 affairs, holding various town offices, and in 
 politics he was a Democrat. He was a Dea- 
 con and Elder of the Reformed church. His 
 wife, Susan, was born in the house which her 
 son Christian now occupies. She was the 
 daughter of Christian Haverley, who built the 
 house with brick made upon the farm. She 
 became the mother of three children, namely: 
 Anna M., wife of James T. Wyatt, of Glen- 
 villc; Christian, the subject of this sketch; 
 and Susan Rosa, who is no longer living. 
 William Rector lived to be nearly eighty-five 
 years old, and his wife died at eighty-three. 
 
 Christian Rector was reared and educated in 
 Glenville. From his youth upward he has 
 been engaged in tilling the soil, and, succeed- 
 ing to the ownership of the homestead property 
 of two hundred and seventy acres, he has real- 
 ized excellent returns as a general farmer. 
 His success is the result of jiractical knowl- 
 edge, diligent effort, and sound judgment. 
 
 On October 10, 1866, Mr. Rector married 
 Emma Veddcr, who was born in Schenectady, 
 June 4, 1845, daughter of Peter and Prudence 
 (Gates) Vedder. Her father was born in Nis- 
 
 kayuna, N. Y. , and her mother was a native of 
 Schenectady. Peter Vedder was a carpenter 
 and lumber dealer in Schenectady for many 
 years, and the business is now carried on by 
 his sons. He served as Supervisor and Alder- 
 man, to which offices he was elected by the 
 Republican jiarty ; and as a generous, public- 
 spirited citizen he was accorded the esteem 
 and good will of his fellow-townsmen. In his 
 religious belief he was a Baptist. Peter Ved- 
 der lived to be sevcnty-si.x years old. His 
 wife died at thirty-nine. He w-as the father of 
 eight children, namely: Mary C, who is now 
 Mrs. Van Dyke; Emma, who is now Mrs. 
 Rector; Theresa, who is now Mrs. Gilbert; 
 Daniel G. , Sharratt G. , Albert, William, of 
 Pasadena, Cal. ; and Prudence G., who is now 
 Mrs. Betts. Mr. and Mrs. Rector have three 
 children, namely: William, a druggist in 
 Schenectady; Susan R. , who married George 
 Koonz, of Glenville, and has two daughters — 
 Mabel and Berdena ; and Prudence, who re- 
 sides at home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rector are members of the 
 Reformed church. Politically, Mr. Rector 
 acts with the Democratic party. 
 
 EARENCE M. BOORN, station agent, 
 I telegraph operator, freight agent, and 
 passenger agent at Seward station, 
 Schoharie County, is a capable, pleasant, ac- 
 commodating official, well adapted for the 
 responsible position that he holds. He was 
 born September 6, 1863, in Decatur, Otsego 
 County, N.Y., the town in which both his 
 
CHRISTIAN RECTOR. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 323 
 
 father, Nathan Boorn, and his grandfather, 
 whose name was Amos, first drew the breath 
 of life. Amos Boorn was the son of one of 
 the earliest settlers of Decatur, and was born 
 and reared in a log cabin. A man of industri- 
 ous habits, energetic and ambitious, he cleared 
 the timber from a large tract of land, and thus 
 reclaimed from the wilderness a fine farm. 
 He lived to the age of seventy years. 
 
 Nathan Boorn was born in the log house in 
 which his parents began housekeeping. In the 
 days of his boyhood and youth he greatly as- 
 sisted his father in felling the giant trees of 
 the forest and in tilling the soil. He after- 
 ward learned the blacksmith's trade, and for 
 many years followed it in his native town. 
 Subsequently removing to the near-by town of 
 East Worcester, he there set up his smithy, 
 and now, though he is seventy years of age, he 
 is still active. 
 
 " Week in, week out, from morn till night. 
 You can hear his bellows blow." 
 
 He married Catherine Brazie, one of the 
 thirteen children of Francis Brazie, of Coopers- 
 town, N.Y. Four children were born of their 
 union, and three are living, as follows: Clar- 
 ence M. ; Ortentia, wife of Alfred R. Robbins; 
 and Friend. Both parents are consistent mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 
 politics the father is an uncompromising Re- 
 publican, and, though never an office-seeker, 
 has served two terms as Town Clerk. 
 
 Clarence M. Boorn was educated in the pub- 
 lic schools, and at the age of seventeen he left 
 home in order to study telegraphy. As soon 
 
 as he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of 
 the art, he was appointed night operator at one 
 of the stations on the Delaware & Hudson 
 River Railroad, and he has since, for a period 
 of seventeen years, been in the employ of the 
 same company. For some time he had 
 charge of the telegraph office at Unadilla, 
 whence he was transferred as agent to Schen- 
 evus, also in Otsego County, and in 1896 came 
 to Seward. Here he has faithfully and satis- 
 factorily performed the duties pertaining to his 
 office, and in every way has proved himself 
 worthy of the confidence reposed in him. Po- 
 litically, he is a supporter of the principles of 
 the Republican party. 
 
 On March 19, 1890, Mr. Boorn married 
 Miss Edna M. Winegard, who was born in 
 Seward, one of the two children of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Abram Winegard, well-to-do and promi- 
 nent members of the farming community of 
 this town, and pillars of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. Mr. and Mrs. Boorn have one 
 child, Carl W. Mr. Boorn attends the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Boorn 
 is an active member. 
 
 ILLIAM B. KNISKERN, an ener- 
 getic farmer and one of the most 
 popular young men of Blenheim, N. Y. , was 
 born in Fulton, this State, September 6, 186S. 
 He is the son of Rufus and Helen M. (Best) 
 Kniskern, and is of the fifth generation in 
 descent from Johannis Kniskern, his pioneer 
 ancestor, who was the original owner (as early 
 as 1775) of the farm on which he resides with 
 
324 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 his father and mother. This is the line: 
 Johannis, ' Joseph,' Christopher,' Rufus, ■* 
 William B.s 
 
 The grandfather, Christopher Kniskcrn, son 
 of Josejih, succeeded to the ownershii) of the 
 homestead, and was an industrious farmer. He 
 married Olive Dornburgh. Their children 
 were: Hamilton, who resides in Blenheim, and 
 is a cooper by trade; Angeline, wife of Joseph 
 F'ink; Adeline, who married S. L. Perry; 
 Mary, who married William S. Hager; Eliza- 
 beth, who is unmarried; Rufus, the father of 
 William ]?. ; Caroline, who married Jeremiah 
 Zeh ; and Martha, who married a Mr. Shaffer. 
 
 Rufus Kniskern was reared on the ancestral 
 farm, which he inherited in turn, and here he 
 continues to make his home. Devoting him- 
 self to its cultivation during the active period 
 of his life, he gave particular attention to 
 carrying on a dairy and raising hops, making 
 the most of his opportunities for success. He 
 married Helen M. Best, daughter of William 
 and Nancy (Hagadorn) Best, of Fulton. 
 Rufus Kniskern is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and his wife is a Lutheran. 
 
 William B. Kniskern acquired a public-school 
 education. From his youth he has worked 
 upon the homestead farm, which for some time 
 he cultivated jointly with his father. He now 
 crops about twenty-five acres, has fifty acres of 
 excellent pasture land, and keeps from twelve 
 to fifteen cows. He has relinquished the 
 growing of hops, preferring to devote his en- 
 ergy to general farming and dairying. 
 
 Mr. Kniskern married Mary C. Hanes, 
 daughter of John Hanes, of l''ult()n. They 
 
 have one .son, Harold. Politically, he is a 
 Democrat. Although frequently solicited to 
 accejDt nominations to town offices, he has 
 generally declined, but has rendered valuable 
 service to the party as a member of the town 
 and county committees, and was a candidate 
 for Supervisor in 1898. He attends the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church. 
 
 OREN P. COLP:, attorney-at-law and 
 farmer of Conesville, N. V., was born 
 in this town, May 31, 1852, son of 
 Elder Loren P. and Charlotte (Weed) Cole. 
 He is a grandson of Avery Cole, who moved 
 with his family from Vermont to that part of 
 Blenheim which is now Gilboa, Schoharie 
 County, and was engaged in farming for the 
 rest of his life, his death occurring at the age 
 of seventy years. 
 
 Avery Cole was an active member of the 
 Baptist church. He was a Whig in politics, 
 and held some of the town offices. The 
 maiden name of his wife was Polly l^lair, and 
 their children were : Suel, Ambrose, Loren P., 
 Anson, Barnard, Ahaz, Rosetta, Mary, and 
 Esther. Of these Ambrose, who resided in 
 Indiana, and Rosetta, who married Patrick Van 
 Dyke, are the only survivors. Mary married 
 Warren W. Parsons; Esther married Daniel C. 
 Leonard; Suel and Barnard died in Gilboa; 
 Anson died in Western New York ; and Ahaz 
 died in Windham, this State. All e.xcept 
 Suel lived to be si.xty-three years old. 
 
 Elder Loren P. Cole, father of the subject 
 of this .sketch, was born in Vermont in 180S, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 327 
 
 and came to Schoharie County when he was 
 four years old. He resided in Gilboa until 
 1845, when he came to Conesville and became 
 an extensive farmer, owning some three hun- 
 dred acres of land. He was an ordained min- 
 ister of the Baptist denomination. He sup- 
 plied pulpits in this section for many years, 
 and also taught school. He served as Super- 
 visor for the years 1853-59, 1864, and 1879, 
 being in the latter year the oldest man on the 
 board. He also served as Highway Commis- 
 sioner, Superintendent of Schools, and Gen- 
 eral Inspector. Elder Cole died in 1 886. He 
 was twice married. His first wife, Phcebe M. 
 Pierce, died two years after marriage, leaving 
 one daughter, Phoebe Ann, who married E. G. 
 Case. For his second wife he married Char- 
 lotte Weed, whose ancestors came from Con- 
 necticut. Seven children were born of this 
 union, namely : Alzina, who married W. H. 
 Braman ; Pluma, who married Bartholomew 
 Becker; Julia E., wife of James A. Bouck ; 
 lanthe, wife of George W. Gurnsey ; Char- 
 lotte, who married Giles P. Guernsey; Eean- 
 der, a farmer of Conesville; and Loreii P., the 
 subject of this sketch. The mother's death 
 occurred a few weeks prior to that of her hus- 
 band. 
 
 Loren P. Cole was given the advantages of 
 a good education, and after the completion of 
 his studies he taught seven terms of school in 
 winter, and worked summers on a farm of his 
 father's. Purchasing the home farm in 1S76, 
 he carried it on until i88g, when he sold the 
 property to his brother Leander, and bought a 
 residence in the village. His law studies 
 
 were pursued in the office of Le Grand Van 
 Tyle, now District Attorney; and since estab- 
 lishing him.self in practice he has built up a 
 large business both in Conesville and Gilboa. 
 In public affairs he has rendered able services 
 to the town and county as Supervisor for eight 
 years, acting as chairman of some of the most 
 important committees. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 Mr. Cole married in 1873 Martha Leonard, 
 daughter of Peter H. Leonard, formerly of 
 Prattsville, and now of Bainbridge, N. Y. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Cole have no children. They attend 
 the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 <^« »» 
 
 M 
 
 AVID T. SLATER, general mer- 
 chant of Hensonville, in the town of 
 Windham, Greene County, N.Y. , 
 was born in Jewett, July 24, 1839, son 
 of Hugh and Sally (Woodworth) Slater. 
 His parents were natives of Greene County, 
 his father having been born in Cairo, and his 
 mother in Hunter. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Elihu Slater, who 
 was born in Connecticut, came to Cairo as a 
 pioneer, built a log cabin, cleared a farm, and 
 tilled the soil during his active period. 
 Grandfather Slater died at the age of seventy- 
 three; and his wife, Sally Beach Slater, who 
 was the mother of a large family, died at 
 seventy-two years of age. They were mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 Hugh Slater, father of David T. , was reared 
 on a farm in Cairo, and resided there until 
 twenty-one years old. He then went to Jew- 
 
328 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ctt, where he followed the occupation of a 
 farmer until his death, which occurred at 
 seventy-two years of age. In politics he was 
 a Democrat until 1856, when he became a Re- 
 publican, his views having changed on the 
 slavery cjuestion. He held several town 
 ofifices. His wife, Sally, was a daughter of 
 Lemuel Woodworth, a jjrosperous farmer of 
 this section. Four of the five children born to 
 them are living, namely: David T. , the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; Mary, who married Henry 
 Whitcomb; Lydia, who became the wife of 
 Anson R. Mott ; and Dayton, who is a drug- 
 gist in Hunter. The mother, Mrs. Sally 
 Woodworth Slater, died at seventy-one. 
 
 David T. Slater began his education in Jew- 
 ett, and completed his studies at Ashland 
 Seminary. At the age of twenty-six he went 
 to Cairo, where he followed farming and ran 
 a saw-mill for si.\ years, at the end of which 
 time he sold his property and came to Henson- 
 ville. Purchasing an interest in a general 
 store, he was a partner in the concern for 
 twenty-two years, then becoming sole proprie- 
 tor of the establishment. He conducts a 
 thriving business here, carrying a large stock 
 of dry goods, groceries, clothing, boots and 
 shoes, patent medicine, hats, caps, and other 
 wares. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. Slater was united in marriage 
 with Miss Elizabeth Winter, daughter of Har- 
 rison Winter, of Jewett. They have had eight 
 children, four of whom survive — Jonathan, 
 Lilian, Dayton, and Eva. Jonathan married 
 Laura Shercr. He is a minister of the gospel 
 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Lilian is a pupil at a 
 
 seminary in New York City, and tlie others 
 are also attending school. 
 
 Since 1884 Mr. Slater has acted with the 
 Prohibition party, and has been Inspector of 
 Elections. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, has been class leader, and 
 also superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
 
 M 
 
 UNCAN M. LEONARD, M.D., of 
 l(D J I^ioome Centre, Schoharie County, 
 was born in Roxbury, Delaware 
 County, N. v., Augu.st 27, 1837, son of Henry 
 and Iluldah (Hull) Leonard. His grand- 
 father, John Leonard, was a native of Ger- 
 many, being the son of an P^nglishman who 
 settled in that country and married there. 
 John Leonard, on coming to America, first set- 
 tled at Black River, Vt., but later removed to 
 Delaware County, New York, and was one of 
 the first to make a clearing in Ro.xbury. He 
 died in that town, August 23, 1826. He was 
 an active member of the Baptist church. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Olmstead, 
 died March ig, 1S42. They had but one son, 
 Henry, Dr. Leonard's father. 
 
 Henry Leonard was born in Roxbury, July 
 4, 1789. Succeeding to the ownership of the 
 homestead, he gave his principal attention to 
 dairy farming and stock raising, and through 
 energy and thrift he realized good financial 
 results. In politics he was a Whig. Henry 
 Leonard died December 20, 1871. His wife, 
 Huldah, who was born June 20, 1799, was a 
 daughter of Seth Hull, of Hartford, Conn. 
 She died September 10, 1S64. They were the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 329 
 
 ])arents of twelve children, namely: SalinaJ., 
 born October 5, 1820; John, born June 6, 
 1S22; Peter H., born May 21, 1824; George 
 H., born January 11, 1826; Daniel C, born 
 September 16, 1827, died in July, 1897; Asa 
 D., born September 4, 1S29; Lucy, born 
 March 13, 1832, who married John VVeckle; 
 Samuel W., born December 8, 1833; William 
 H., born June 27, 1835; Duncan M., the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; Mary E., born April 25, 
 1839; and Charles K., born May 20, 1842. 
 George H., who practised medicine, served in 
 the Civil War, and died in Brooklyn, N.Y. ; 
 John, who became a surgeon of repute, served 
 three years in the army, and owing to ill- 
 health he subsequently engaged in farming; 
 Peter H., Daniel C, and Asa D. were 
 farmers; Samuel W. remained upon the home- 
 stead ; and Mary E. married Christian Ender- 
 lin, of Roxbury. Charles K., while pursuing 
 his medical studies, received injuries which 
 later resulted in his death. Several of the 
 sons taught school in their younger days. 
 The father was a Baptist and a prominent 
 church member. 
 
 Duncan M. Leonard completed his early ed- 
 ucation at the Ro.xbury Academy, and having 
 begun his medical studies under the direction 
 of his brother George, he attended the Univer- 
 sity Medical College, Castleton, Vt. , from 
 which he was graduated in 1857. Locating at 
 Broome Centre on January i of the following 
 year, he has resided here ever since, and al- 
 though he has practised his profession steadily 
 for a pericxl of over forty years he still retains 
 nnich of the vigor and activitv which charac- 
 
 terized his youth, and attends regularly to his 
 every-day duties. As a physician he stands 
 high in the community, his professional skill 
 and reputation for promptitude enabling him 
 to maintain among the well-to-do residents of 
 this vicinity a practice sufificient to keep him 
 constantly busy; yet he has never been known 
 to refuse when called to attend the poor, from 
 whom he could e.xpect little or no compensa- 
 tion, and he has never instigated a law suit for 
 the collection of fees. Prompted b}' the be- 
 lief that good physicians are an urgent neces- 
 sity to the welfare of mankind, he has not only 
 directed the preparation of several students 
 and provided for their personal wants during 
 their preliminary studies, but has also assisted 
 them in securing an adequate college training. 
 
 On January i, i860. Dr. Leonard married 
 for his first wife Vashtie McHench, who died 
 June 4, 1877; and on January i, 1879, he 
 wedded her sister, Emma J. Their father was 
 William McHench, the son of John, who came 
 from the north of Ireland, and was a pioneer 
 farmer in this section. The family is of 
 Scotch origin. 
 
 John McHench had a family of four chil- 
 dren; namely, Submit, William, Catherine, 
 and John. Submit married Benjamin Thorn- 
 ington. Catherine married John Goodfellow. 
 William remained on the homestead, unci 
 John settled in another part of the town. 
 William McHench, who was a prosperous 
 farmer, took an active part in j)ublic affairs, 
 and held some of the important offices in 
 this town. In early life he was interested 
 in military affairs, and acquired the title of 
 
33° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Captain. He was one of the Icadini;- meml)ers 
 of the Christian church. He died at the age 
 of seventy-.seven years. William McHench 
 married Ann Ferguson, and was the father of 
 nine children, namely: Willard, deceased; 
 James R. , deceased, who settled in Minnesota, 
 and became wealthy ; Nancy, deceased, who 
 married Elder Brown, and had four children; 
 Va.shtie, Dr. Leonard's first wife; William and 
 Wilson, twins; Andrew and Francis, also 
 twins; and Emma J., Dr. Leonard's second 
 wife. Of these, William, .Andrew, and Emma J. 
 are still living. William McHench, second, 
 was graduated from the medical department of 
 the University of Michigan, and is now prac- 
 tising his profession in Brighton, that State. 
 
 Dr. Leonard is the father of four children, 
 all by his first marriage, namely: Emma R., 
 born October ig, i860; Frances A., born .Sep- 
 tember 12, 1863; Ursula J., born April 16, 
 1866; and Kutson R., born June 3, 1868. 
 Emma R., who is a graduate of the State 
 Normal School, Albany, is a successful school 
 teacher. Frances is the wife of F. B. 
 Mackey. Ursula J. married C. S. Best, 
 M.D. , who is practising in Middleburg, 
 N.Y. Rutson R. Leonard, M. D. , who is now 
 located in Bloomville, Delaware County, New 
 York, began his preparation under his father's 
 direction, and pursued his advanced studies in 
 the vmivcrsities of Vermont, New York City, 
 and Michigan. 
 
 Dr. Duncan M. Leonard cultivates a good 
 farm, and is quite an extensive real estate 
 holder, owning about seven hundred acres in 
 all. He formerly acted with the Republican 
 
 jiarty in politics, but now votes independently. 
 He belongs to the County Medical Society, 
 and was at one time its president. For years 
 he has devoted his leisure to reading, and has 
 studied the natural sciences, including astron- 
 omy. In his religious belief he is a Baptist, 
 and for many years has been prominently iden- 
 tified with tiiat church. 
 
 Lh LI ROSE, former superintendent of the 
 
 J! Howe's Cave Lime and Cement 
 
 Company and proprietor of a general mer- 
 chandise store, is now retired from business 
 and residing at Central Bridge, N. Y. He was 
 born in Maryland, Otsego County, N. Y. , on 
 February 20, 1840, son of Nathan and Deborah 
 (Morehouse) Rose. He comes of English 
 stock. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Rose, 
 probably a native of Massachusetts, said to have 
 been the descendant of one of the early settlers 
 of that State (whether of Thomas Rose, who 
 was an inhabitant of Scituate, Plymouth 
 County, before 1660, or of another emigrant, 
 the present writer is unable to say), came to 
 Columbia County, New York, in young man- 
 hood. From Columbia County Nathaniel 
 Rose removed to Warren, Herkimer County, 
 N. Y., and finally to Maryland, N.Y., where 
 he spent the last years of his life. He started 
 as a poor boy, but before he died he accumu- 
 lated a large property, chiefly comprised in 
 land. He was able to give to each of his si.\ 
 sons a fine farm, and then had some three hun- 
 dred acres left for himself. Each son also re- 
 
ICI.I ROSE. 
 
MRS. ELI ROSE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 335 
 
 ceived a pair of horses, farm stock, and grain 
 for jilanting. Nathaniel Rose was a Captain 
 in the State militia. He died at the age of 
 seventy-six years. His wife, who died at the 
 age of seventy-five, was before her marriage 
 Lovina Spencer. Her family were people of 
 importance in Columbia County. She was the 
 mother of eight children, all of whom married 
 and had families. Both she and her husband 
 were members of the Baptist church, and were 
 active and liberal in their support of all church 
 matters. So interested were they that they 
 were instrumental in building a house of wor- 
 ship almost without assistance from others. 
 
 Nathan Rose, son of Nathaniel and father of 
 Eli Rose, was born in Columbia County, New 
 York, and was educated in the common 
 schools there. Shortly after his marriage he 
 settled upon the farm given him by his father, 
 and there engaged in farming with great suc- 
 cess. In time he developed dairying to some 
 extent and also lumbering, carrying on in the 
 last-named industry a very large business. He 
 was active in town affairs and a liberal sup- 
 porter of the Baptist church. He died at the 
 age of sixty-nine. His wife, Deborah, who 
 died at the age of eighty-one, was a daughter 
 of James Morehouse, a farmer on an extensive 
 scale, residing at Maryland, N. Y. Her grand- 
 father, who lived to be eighty-five years of 
 age, was one of the early pioneers of that 
 place. Her father was killed when only thirty- 
 four years old by being tlirown from a horse. 
 Her mother, whose maiden name was Jane Burn- 
 side, was born in Maryland and died at the age 
 of sixty. She was twice married, and had five 
 
 children by her first marriage and three by the 
 second. All of them grew to maturit)', but all 
 are now deceased save one. Nathan and Deb- 
 orah Rose were the parents of five children, 
 namely: John J., of Maryland, N.Y. ; Betsey, 
 who is the wife of Harvey Baker, of Oneonta ; 
 Mary, who married Amos Graves, of Glens 
 Falls, now deceased; Lovina, who is the 
 widow of Nelson Goodrich, of Oneonta; and 
 Eli, the sjoecial subject of this sketch. 
 
 Eli Rose received a public-school education, 
 and subsequently assisted his father on the 
 farm until about twenty-seven years of age. 
 He also taught school for two terms. In 1867 
 he entered the employ of the Howe's Cave 
 Lime and Cement Company, which had just 
 been formed, as book-keeper. The following 
 year he purchased an interest in the business, 
 and he was afterward promoted through the po- 
 sition of foreman to general manager and treas- 
 urer. He had sometimes as many as eighty 
 men under his charge; and, besides managing 
 the lime and cement business, he operated a 
 general merchandise store, which he started in 
 1868 and which is now one of the oldest in the 
 county. In February, 1898, Mr. Rose sold 
 all his interests at Howe's Cave to a wealthy 
 syndicate, and removed to Central Bridge, 
 N. Y. , where he is now living. 
 
 A word in regard to the cement company 
 with which he was so long connected may be 
 interesting to the reader. This company was 
 incorporated under the laws of the State of 
 New York in 1867 by Hon. John Westover, of 
 Richmondville, N. Y. , Jared Goodyear, of 
 Colliers, N.Y. , and E. R. Ford and Harvey 
 
336 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Barker, of Oneonta, N.Y. , as charter members 
 and owners. The seventy or more acres of 
 land owned by the company were rude and 
 rugged in the extreme, and no appliances were 
 at hand. But generous ledges of limestone 
 gave promise of rich reward to those who 
 should quarry it. Houses for the employees, 
 barns for the work horses, shops, kilns, and 
 mills were erected; and derricks, engines, and 
 other appliances were brought here. Fortu- 
 nately for the company, the line of the Albany 
 & Susquehanna, now a part of the D. & H. C. 
 Company, ran near — so near, in fact, that 
 often in blasting large pieces of rock were 
 thrown on the track. The ledge nearest the 
 railroad, which is of dark blue limestone, is 
 forty-four feet thick, and is composed, of 
 course, of comparatively thin and light rock. 
 Next above this is a ridge of gray limestone in 
 massive blocks and of excellent quality and 
 soundness, such as are eminently suitable for 
 the construction of piers, abutments, canal 
 lock.s, retaining walls, and all kinds of massive 
 masonry. The lime produced in the kilns is 
 very strong, adhesive, and of great durability. 
 Its lasting virtue is well shown in the stone 
 fort at Schoharie Court House, which was built 
 more than a hundred years ago, and as yet 
 presents no imperfection of either stone or 
 mortar. Among the im])ortant structures in 
 which this cement has been employed are the 
 following: the new capitol at Albany; Hol- 
 land House, New York City; the Scranton 
 Steel Works ; Troy Steel and Iron Works ; and 
 the reservoir at Fair Haven, Vt. As all the 
 process of manufacture and the disposal of the 
 
 output was under Mr. Rose's supervision until 
 his recent retirement, no further commentary 
 upon his ability both as an executive officer 
 and as a financier is needed. 
 
 Mr. Rose was married in 1S70 to Mary C. 
 Warner, who was born in Richmondville, 
 daughter of Henry Warner. Her father, a 
 farmer, who was a descendant of an old and 
 honored family, died at the age of seventy 
 years. Her grandfather and great-grandfather 
 Warner were both carried captives to Canada 
 by the Indians and held there as prisoners for 
 a year. Mr. and Mrs. Rose have one daugh- 
 ter, Sophina, who assists her father in the 
 store. In politics Mr. Rose is a Republican. 
 He is a member of the Lutheran church, and 
 is a trustee of the society. His wife and 
 daughter are also members of the church. 
 
 UGAR HARTT, Greenville's veteran 
 merchant, member of the firm of 
 J. G. & E. Hartt, was born on Norton Hill in 
 this town on January 2, 182S, his parents being 
 John and Salome (Miller) Hartt. His paternal 
 grandfather, Joseph Hartt, was a native of 
 Dutchess County, New York. The maiden 
 name of his grandmother was Polly Green. 
 
 John Hartt, the father, was born in Harts- 
 ville, Dutchess County, and was a shoemaker 
 by trade. He came to Norton Hill in 1S20, 
 previous to his marriage, and carried on a suc- 
 cessful business here during the remainder of 
 his working life. He hired a number of 
 hands, and did considerable custom work. 
 His death occurred at the age of seventy-four. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL KEVIEW 
 
 337 
 
 He and his wife were members of the Chris- 
 tian church ; and he was a Deacon and active 
 worker in the church. The house of worship 
 was four miles from tlieir home. In politics 
 he was a Republican. Mrs. Salome Miller 
 Hartt was born in Dutchess County. She 
 lived to be eighty-seven years old. Of her 
 seven children, five are living, namely: Mary 
 Ann, who resides in Greenville; Edgar, the 
 direct subject of this biography; John G. , a 
 sketch of whose life appears below ; William 
 B. ; and George A., who is in the employ of 
 John G. Myers, of Albany. 
 
 Mr. Edgar Hartt received a practical educa- 
 tion in the public schools of Norton Hill. 
 His first business experience was in shoemak- 
 ing, which he learned by working with his 
 father. He followed his trade about nine 
 years. The partnership with his brother was 
 formed in 1856, at the old stand; and three 
 years later the store where they are now doing 
 business was built. It is doubtful if there is 
 a single partnership in the State that has ex- 
 isted longer than this. Messrs. Hartt still 
 buy goods in some instances of the firms from 
 whom they bought when they began business. 
 They carry a very complete stock of general 
 merchandise, including dry goods, groceries, 
 boots and shoes, ready-made clothing, hats and 
 caps, crockery and glassware, oil cloth, hard- 
 ware, grain, drugs and patent medicines, wall 
 paper and stationery. The business has grown 
 from year to year with the growth of the vil- 
 lage, which has nearly doubled in size since 
 they began. 
 
 In i860 Mr. Hartt married Augusta Chap- 
 
 man, a native of Westerlo and daughter of 
 Robert and Eliza Chapman, her father a black- 
 smith. ]5oth her parents died at the age of 
 eighty. They had three children, two of 
 whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Hartt have 
 three children — Gertrude, Clara, and Henry 
 G. Gertrude is the wife of G. W. Palen, a 
 tanner residing in Western Pennsylvania, near 
 DuBois. Clara resides with her parents. 
 Henry G. Hartt is a partner in the firm of 
 Colier & Co., dry-goods merchants at Cox- 
 sackie, where they carry on a most successful 
 business. He married Grace Vanderburjc. 
 
 f^OHN G. HARTT, brother of Edgar and 
 his partner, was born at Norton Hill on 
 October 3, 1829. Upon leaving home 
 and starting life for himself, he entered the 
 employ of Thomas Saxon in South Westerlo. 
 
 From that place he came to Greenville and 
 began working for Mr. Bentley, with whom he 
 remained for the next nine years, during the 
 first three of which he worked for fifty dollars 
 a year and found his own clothes. His hours 
 were from six o'clock in the morning to nine 
 o'clock in the evening, and he often had to 
 work until midnight. His motto always was 
 that, no matter how small an amount he earned, 
 he must save a little; and he always kept to 
 it. He left Mr. Bentley to join his brother in 
 business, starting, as has been said, in the old 
 corner store. 
 
 Mr. Hartt married in 1859 Jane A. Tall- 
 madge, a native of Greenville, N. Y. Her 
 father, Henry Tallmadge, a native of Poult- 
 
338 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ney, Vt. , was a physician by profession ; but 
 he came to Coxsackie, and engaged in mercan- 
 tile business there. He died at the age of 
 sixty -three. His wife, whose name before 
 marriage was Jane A. Reed, was born in Cox- 
 sackie, and died in Greenville at the age of 
 seventy-five. She bore him eight children. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hartt have only one chiUl, Ar- 
 thur, who is a merchant at Ravena, Albany 
 County, this State, and Postmaster in that 
 place. He was in the Greenville Local print- 
 ing-office for nine years, and has taken an ac- 
 tive part in politics. He married Rose W'il- 
 sey, and has one son, Harold. 
 
 Both John and Kdgar Hartt are prominent 
 members of the Republican party in this sec- 
 tion. The former has been Town Clerk and 
 Assistant Postmaster. Neither has cared for 
 public office. ]5oth arc attendants of the Pres- 
 byterian church, and their wives and the three 
 children of Mr. lulgar Hartt are members of 
 the church. The brothers are among the best- 
 known men in the county, and command uni- 
 versal esteem. 
 
 (S>r I.BF.RT G. ROSEKRAUS, Esq., a 
 ^^ geneial merchant in Fulton, Schoharie 
 V — County, was born May 5, 1837, in 
 Berne, Albany C(junty, a son of Holmes Rose- 
 kraus, M. D. His paternal grandfather, Henr)- 
 Rosekraus, removed from Westerlo, N.Y. , to 
 Wright, Schoharie County, when in the prime 
 of a vigorous manhood, and from that time 
 until his death, at the age of fourscore years, 
 was engaged as a tiller of the soil. His wife, 
 
 whose maiden name was Holmes, also lived to 
 be eighty years old, and dying left five chil- 
 dren ; namely. Holmes, P"rederick, Henry, 
 Phebe P'lansburgh, and Mrs. Hungerford. 
 
 Holmes Rosekraus received his elementary 
 education in the common schools of Albany 
 County, and after reading medicine for a time 
 with competent instructors, entered the Al- 
 bany Medical College, from which he was 
 graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medi- 
 cine. Locating at once in Berne, Albany 
 County, he built up a very large practice in 
 that town and vicinity, and became one of its 
 most successful and favorably known physi- 
 cians. After an active practice of thirty 
 years, he passed to the higher life, at the age 
 of fifty-four. He was deeply interested in 
 local affairs, and served a number of years as 
 Town Superintendent. He was a regular at- 
 tendant of the Baptist church, of which his 
 wife was a consistent member. He married 
 Melinda Weidman, one of the three children 
 of Jacob Weidman, a prominent farmer of 
 Berne. Twelve children were born of this 
 luiion, and six of them survive, namely : 
 Jacob; Albert, the sj^ecial subject of this 
 sketch ; James, a professor of music, and a 
 minister; Thomas; Washington; and Eliza- 
 beth. All of the children are gifted with ex- 
 ceptional musical talent, and all but two are 
 quite noted throughout Schoharie County. 
 The mother died at the age of seventy-five 
 years. 
 
 Albert Rosekraus attended the public schools 
 of Berne until ten years old, and then came to 
 Middleburg, in this county, where he contin- 
 
A. L. KERK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 341 
 
 iicd his studies at the high school and acad- 
 emy, and also woiked for a while as a clerk. 
 Going then to Albany, he served an appren- 
 ticeship of two years and a half at the printer's 
 trade; but, not liking it well enough to con- 
 tinue it, he returned to Middleburg, where he 
 was subsequently employed as a clerk ten 
 years. Coming in 1864 to Fulton, he bought 
 an interest in his present store, and in partner- 
 ship with Charles Watson carried on an exten- 
 sive business for three years. The partnership 
 being then dissolved, he returned to Middle- 
 burg, where for the ensuing three years he 
 was engaged in mercantile pursuits in the 
 store occupying the present site of Wellington 
 Bassler's establishment. Disposing of his 
 property there, Mr. Rosekraus then bought his 
 present store in Fulton, and has since carried 
 on a very large and successful business as a 
 general merchant. 
 
 In politics he is prominently identified with 
 the Democratic party, which he has served 
 three years as one of the Democratic County 
 Committee. He has been Justice of the Peace 
 si.xteen years, an ofTfice which he still holds, 
 his present term not expiring until igoo. He 
 has been Town Clerk two terms, and on three 
 occasions has received the nomination for 
 County Clerk. He was one of the promoters 
 of the Fulton Valley Telephone Company, of 
 which he has been a stockholder and a director 
 several years. F'raternally, he is a member of 
 Middleburg Lodge, No. 663, F. & A. M., 
 which he assisted in organizing, and he was 
 for some years the chorister. He belongs to 
 the Reformed church. He has served a num- 
 
 ber of years as a Deacon of the church, and he 
 was for a long time the organist and chorister. 
 He has also been actively identified with its 
 Sunday-school as a teacher and superintendent 
 and as the leader of singing. 
 
 In October, 1858, Mr. Rosekraus married 
 Margaret Zeh, daughter of Joseph Zeh, a well- 
 known farmer and an old and respected resi- 
 dent of Seward. She died at the age of three- 
 score years, leaving three children, namely: 
 Pauline, a teacher in Fulton; Dora, who was 
 also a teacher for some years, and now is the 
 wife of J. Brewster, a farmer in Seward; and 
 Ida, who is the wife of Edwin Lawyer, and has 
 one child, Albert. After the death of his first 
 wife, Mr. Rosekraus married Mary Follett, 
 daughter of John Follett, a cooper, of Fulton, 
 their union being solemnized in October, 1S97. 
 
 LBERT L. KERR, general merchant 
 and Postmaster at Haines Falls, N.Y., 
 was born in this village, September 
 18, 1862. He is the son of Robert and Mar- 
 garet A. (Haines) Kerr. His father was born 
 at Tannensville, and his mother was born at 
 Haines Falls. His paternal grandfather, 
 George Kerr, who was a native of Ireland, 
 came to America at the age of fourteen, and 
 later settled in Tannersville, where he followed 
 farming. George Kerr died at the age of sixty. 
 Robert Kerr, father of Albert L., engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits in this section when a 
 young man, and before the advent of railroads 
 ran a stage-coach to Catskill. Since 1891 he 
 has resided here summers, and spent his win- 
 
342 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ters in New York City. He is now engaged in 
 selling Christmas trees, cutting and shipping 
 them to the metropolis, where they find a ready 
 market. In politics he is a Republican. His 
 wife, Margaret A., daughter of Peter B. 
 Haines, formerly of this village, is a descend- 
 ant of John Haines, who went from Staten 
 Island to Putnam County, New York, where 
 he died in 1771. Elijah Haines, son of John, 
 moved from Putnam County to Greene County 
 about the year 1779, as a pioneer, and spent 
 the rest of his life here; and her grandfather, 
 Edward, who was born in Greene County, New 
 York, became a prosperous farmer in this 
 county. Peter B. Haines, father of Mrs. Kerr, 
 erected the first dwelling on the site of the 
 Catskill Mountain House. He followed farm- 
 ing. He also carried on a saw-mill, and was 
 a useful citizen. He had a family of ten chil- 
 dren. Robert and Margaret A. Kerr have two 
 children: Gertrude, who married Cornelius H. 
 Legg, of Haines Corners ; and Albert L. , the 
 subject of this sketch. The parents were 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 Albert L. Kerr attended the common schools. 
 At the age of twenty he took a clerkship in 
 the post-office in this place, and later went to 
 Tannersville, where he occupied the same posi- 
 tion in the post-office under Mr. Mulford for 
 three months (the fall season). In 1888 he 
 engaged in general mercantile business on his 
 own account at Haines Falls; and, the post- 
 office having been removed to his store, he 
 acted as Postmaster thirteen month.s. He then 
 purchased the building in which he is now 
 located. In 1S98 he was appointed Post- 
 
 master, and in order to more conveniently 
 handle the business, which is largely increased 
 during the summer, he erected a special post- 
 office building adjoining his store. This office 
 transacts a large money order business, has 
 eight mails per day, averaging five sacks of 
 first-class matter and three of papers; and 
 there are two regular mails on Sunday. 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Kerr married Belle B. Brewer, 
 daughter of Nathan and Mary (Williams) 
 Brewer, of this town. Her grandfather, Sam- 
 uel Brewer, was born in Connecticut. Her 
 father was a prosperous farmer here, dying at 
 the age of seventy ; and her mother, who was 
 born in Colchester, N.Y., daughter of Thomas 
 Williams, died at the age of forty-three. Na- 
 than and Mary Brewer had four children — 
 Charlotte, Belle B., Scott, and Mott. Char- 
 lotte married Norman Kerr. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Albert L. Kerr have had four children, two of 
 whom are living: Louis A. ; and Harold 
 Maine, who was born February 15, 1898, a 
 day made memorable by the blowing up of the 
 battleship "Maine" in Havana Harbor. 
 
 Mr. Kerr is a Republican in politics. He 
 attends the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 ACOB VAN VALKENBURGH, M.D., 
 of .Sharon, .Schoharie County, N. Y. , 
 was born in this town, June 13, 1S39, 
 son of Henry and Olive L. (Roth) Van Valk- 
 enburgh. His ancestors were Germans from 
 the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine, or Pfalz, 
 Germany. They came in the great Palatinate 
 c.\odus about 1709. The original surname was 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 343 
 
 Falkenburg. Some members of the family 
 wrote it Valkenburg, and about the beginning 
 of the present century it assumed its present 
 form, Van Valkenburgh. 
 
 Dr. Van Valkenburgh is a lineal descendant 
 in the sixth generation of Arnold Van Valken- 
 burgh, who came to America accompanied by 
 his wife and one son, the latter being then 
 eight years old. Arnold Van Valkenburgh re- 
 sided in Ulster County, New York, from 1709 
 to 1 71 3, when he came to Schoharie County, 
 and acquired from the Indians a tract of land. 
 His son, John Joseph Van Valkenburgh, also 
 resided in this county. The latter, who was 
 the great-great-grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, served in the French and Indian 
 War as an Ensign. He was also a private in 
 Colonel Kilian Van Rensselaer's regiment 
 in the Revolutionary War, and acted as a 
 scout. Pie had three sons — Adam, Joachim, 
 and Joseph. The second son, Joachim, was 
 shot by an Indian at Jefferson Lake in this 
 county. 
 
 The third Joseph, who was Dr. Van Valk- 
 enburgh 's great-grandfather, was born in 1744. 
 He and his two brothers served in the Revo- 
 lutionary War as privates in a regiment com- 
 manded by Colonel Peter Vrooman. Joseph 
 Van Valkenburgh was the first of the family to 
 locate in Sharon. The farm he cleared is now 
 owned by John J. Van Valkenburgh, a distant 
 relative of Dr. Jacob Van Valkenburgh. The 
 log house of the pioneer stood about one mile 
 from his great-grandson's residence. Joseph 
 Van Valkenburgh married Magdaline Brown, 
 who was born in 1742. Their children were : 
 
 Lana, Merie, Eve, Adam, John Joseph, Eliza- 
 beth, Nancy, Peter, Merie (second), Margaret, 
 Jacob, Joachim, and Henry. Joseph, the 
 father, died March 28, 181 5. 
 
 John Joseph Van Valkenburgh, second, the 
 Doctor's grandfather, was born in Schoharie, 
 July 23, 1771. The greater 'part of his life 
 was spent in Sharon, where he owned a well- 
 cultivated farm of one hundred and forty-four 
 acres. He was one of the founders of the Bel- 
 linger sect, being a Calvinist in religious be- 
 lief. Of reserved disposition, he held aloof 
 from public affairs. During the War of 18 12 
 he was drafted ; but, being unable to go to the 
 front, he furnished a substitute. He died on 
 his birthday, July 23, 1855. His wife, whose 
 maiden name was Mary Bender, was born in 
 Bethlehem, Albany County, N.Y., October 
 13, 1776, and died June 4, i860. Their 
 children were: Henry, Lana, Christian, Will- 
 iam, Maria, John, Joseph, Stephen, and Eliza- 
 beth. Joseph served in the Mexican War, 
 was wounded at the battle of Chepultepec, and 
 subsequently drew a pension. 
 
 Henry Van Valkenburgh, Dr. Van Valken- 
 burgh's father, was born in Sharon, May 14, 
 1798. He belonged to the Bellinger church, 
 of which he was Elder for many years. Study- 
 ing theology, he became an evangelist, in 
 which capacity he was widely known through- 
 out New York and New Jersey. He left the 
 homestead after his first marriage, but contin- 
 ued to make general farming his chief occupa- 
 tion. He died in this town, April 18, 1866. 
 For his first wife he married Rachael Bloom- 
 ingdale, who was born June 19, 1803, and who 
 
344 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 died April 26, 1835, leaving one son, Henry 
 H. The latter, when fifteen years old, went 
 to reside with a bachelor uncle in the town of 
 North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, N.Y. , 
 whose property he afterward inherited ; and he 
 became a prosperous fanner and dairyman. 
 He married, and at his death left five children. 
 For his second wife Henry Van Valkenburgh 
 married Olive L. Roth, who was born in Mas- 
 sachusetts, July 31, 1 8 10, daughter of Joseph 
 Roth. She was a descendant of John Roth, 
 an Englishman, who was the progenitor of a 
 long line of piiysicians and surgeons of Ux- 
 bridge, England. Some of her brothers were 
 well known as bridge-builders and mechanics. 
 She was given a good education, and was par- 
 ticularly proficient in vocal music. She was 
 reared a Calvinist in religion. She died Au- 
 gust 23, 1874, having been the mother of four 
 children — Jacob, Albert A., Joseph, and Em- 
 ily. Albert A., who was a farmer, enlisted 
 in Company E, Forty-third Regiment, New 
 York Volunteers, with which he ser\-ed in the 
 Civil War for two years, at the end of that 
 time being assigned to the invalid corps. He 
 died soon after his return from the army. 
 Joseph, who is a merchant in Canby, Minn., 
 is married, and has a family of five children. 
 Emily became the wife of David Ottman, of 
 Cobleskill. 
 
 Jacob Van Valkenburgh began his education 
 in the district schools, and at a later date stud- 
 ied the classics and high mathematics under 
 the direction of a private tutor. He afterward 
 attended the Troy Academy, then presided 
 over by Professor Wilson; and his classical 
 
 studies were completed at the Hartwick Semi- 
 nary. He taught school for a time, and also 
 studied theology and medicine, with the view 
 of becoming a missionary, but finally gave his 
 whole attention to medicine. Beginning the 
 study of that profession with Dr. William H. 
 Parsons, an eclectic physician of Sharon, 
 N.Y. , he later received instruction from Dr. 
 Robert lildredge, and acquired a knowledge 
 of botanic medicine under Dr. John Praymer. 
 He also studied two years with Dr. J. S. Her- 
 rick, an allopathic physician of Argusville, 
 N.Y. ; and he received his degree from the 
 Eclectic Medical College of Philadelphia, 
 Pa., known as the Paine School, January 22, 
 1862. Locating in Charleston, N. Y. , in 
 April of that year, during the first five years 
 of his practice he was obliged to contend 
 against the animosity then existing between 
 the eclectic and regular schools of medicine; 
 but the skill he displayed in his profession at 
 length gained for him the recognition of his 
 opponents, and he has since received honorary 
 degrees from two medical colleges. In 1867 
 he moved from Charleston to Sharon, where he 
 has a lucrative practice. 
 
 Dr. Van Valkenburgh was one of the organ- 
 izers of the Eclectic Medical Society of the 
 State of New York, being one of the charter 
 members named in the article of incorporation 
 by the legislature of the State. He was corre- 
 sponding secretary of the society, and served 
 on various committees. He was also one of 
 the organizers of the Twenty-third Senatorial 
 District Medical Society, now known as the 
 Susquehanna District Medical Society, and 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 345 
 
 was one of its censors. He has been health 
 officer many years, acts as a Notary Public, 
 and was a trustee of Slate Hill Cemetery. 
 He was a trustee of the public school in his 
 village for many years. He delivers extem- 
 poraneous address on public occasions, on 
 patriotic, educational, or religious subjects; 
 frequently lectures to various societies, and 
 writes for the medical and secular press. A 
 book-lover and a close student from his boy- 
 hood, he has gathered a large library, to which 
 he makes additions every year. Never idle, 
 he employs each moment in some useful occu- 
 pation. He owns a farm, and is out of debt. 
 In politics he was formerly a Republican, but 
 supported the candidacy of William J. Bryan 
 in 1896. While now a rojDulist, he loyally 
 supports President McKinley and Go\-ernor 
 Roosevelt. 
 
 Dr. Van Valkenburgh married Harriet 
 Moulton, daughter of Gurdon Moulton, of 
 Lykers, Montgomery County, N. Y. , and of 
 English ancestry. Mrs. Van Valkenburgh, 
 who was a teacher in the public schools, died 
 May 31, 1892. She was the mother of four 
 children, namely: Emma, widow of Irving A. 
 Parsons; Minnie, who married Charles Van 
 Home; Moulton, who died at the age of 
 twenty months; and Flora, who resides at 
 home with her father. The daughters are all 
 graduates of the Cobleskill High School, and 
 the first and second were teachers prior to their 
 marriage. 
 
 Dr. Van Valkenburgh assisted in building 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, which stands 
 on land given by him for that purpose. He 
 
 has served as steward and trustee and as super- 
 intendent of the Sunday-school. He is also a 
 class leader, and acts as janitor without fee or 
 reward. He is a Master Mason, having been 
 a member for thirty years, or since 1869, of 
 Cobleskill Lodge, No. 394, F. & A. M. 
 
 DWARD A. GIFFORD, the well-known 
 lawyer of Athens, N. Y., for si.x 
 years District Attorney, was born in this town 
 on December 22, 1856. He is a son of Al- 
 fred and Christina (Hollenbeck) Gifford, and 
 grandson of Joseph Gifford, late a farmer in 
 Rensselaerville, N.Y. His grandfather died 
 at the age of seventy-four, and his grand- 
 mother died at the age of eighty. Their chil- 
 dren were: John, Rufus, Abraham, Warren, 
 Alfred, Margaret, Sophia, James, and Jere- 
 miah. 
 
 Alfred Gifford was born in Rensselaerville, 
 Albany County, and was reared on a farm 
 there. Coming to Greene County in 1868, he 
 settled in New Baltimore, where he remained 
 ten years. After that he was in Coxsackie for 
 ten years, and he then went on the road as 
 agent for the Capitol City Iron Works Com- 
 pany of Albany. He has travelled all over 
 the country in the interests of their business. 
 His political principles are Republican. He 
 and his wife are members of the Christian 
 church, and reside in Philadelphia, Pa. Mrs. 
 Gifford 's parents were Abraham and Jane (Van 
 Horsen) Hollenbeck, both of Dutch ancestry; 
 and her paternal grandparents were Casper and 
 Christina Hollenbeck. Her father was for 
 
346 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 iiKiny years one of the pniminent men of 
 Athens. He had several ihilchen. Alfred 
 and Christina Gifford are the parents of five 
 sons — Lawrence F. , Kdward A., Frederick 
 W., George B., and William L. George B. 
 and Lawrence V. Gifford are in Philadelphia. 
 William L. and l<"redciick W. Giff<ird reside 
 in Boston, Mass. 
 
 l^dvvarcl A. Gifford was reared on a farm, 
 and received his elementary education in the 
 common schools, subsequently continuing his 
 studies at home. Farly in life he formed the 
 resolve to achieve a prosi^erous career. He 
 obtained a legal clerkshiji in the office of J. 
 Washington Hiseerd, of Coxsackie, and during 
 his three years' stay there gained much valua- 
 ble knowledge and experience. He then en- 
 tered the Law Department of Union Univer- 
 sity at Albany, N.Y. ; and on January 25, 
 1884, four months before his graduation there- 
 from, he was admitted to the bar in Albany, 
 passing a brilliant examination. Three years 
 later, after successful practice of his profession 
 in New York City, he abandoned it in order to 
 accept a position as superintendent and general 
 passenger agent and excursion agent of the 
 Seneca F'alls & Cayuga Lake Railroad Com- 
 pany, and of the Cayuga Lake Park Company 
 at Seneca Falls, this .State. These offices he 
 held until October, 1889; and the folhnving 
 month he again took up the practice of law, 
 settling in Athens. 
 
 In November, 1892, he was elected District 
 Attorney, being the second Republican to hold 
 that office in Greene County. Re-elected in 
 1895, he served until 1898, a period of six 
 
 years in all. As District Att<irney, Mr. Gif- 
 ford won a high re|iutation for ability and con- 
 scientious devotion to official duty. He con- 
 ducted without assistance the prosecution of 
 George W. Hess, indicted for murder in the 
 second degree for the killing of Hezekiah 
 Bedell (a colored man) ; also of Pasquale Ca- 
 scrta, who was tried for murder in the second 
 degree for the killing of his cousin, Joseph 
 Caserta. In the first case he had against him 
 the Hon. Jacob H. Chute and the Hon. Eu- 
 gene liurlingame, of Albany, but secured the 
 conviction of Hess. In the second case the 
 accused was defended liy I\gbert Palmer, Esq., 
 of Catskill ; but again Mr. Gifford won his case, 
 and convicted Caserta of murder in the second 
 degree, as charged in the indictment. Both 
 cases excited great public interest, and rank 
 among the most celebrated criminal cases ever 
 tried in Greene County. Mr. Gifford is at the 
 present time attorney for the Union Commer- 
 cial Co-operati\'e Bank of Albnnv, for the town 
 of Athens. 
 
 Mr. Gifford was marrietl on June 22, 1881, 
 to ]'",lla J. Porter, of Athens, eldest ilaughter of 
 Clark and Charlotte C. (Mead) Porter. Her 
 paternal grandfather was Israel R. Porter, who 
 died in 1874; and her maternal grandfather was 
 Daniel Mead. Clark Porter was born in Scho- 
 harie County, but in childhood mo\'ed with his 
 parents to a farm in the town of Athens, where 
 he still resides. He is a prominent towns- 
 man, having been .Superxisor, Insjiector of 
 Elections, and for fifteen or twenty years As- 
 sessor. They had a family of seven children; 
 namely, l^la J. (Mrs. Clifford), Clark I., 
 
AM)K1.W K.W.MOXD. 
 
 I 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 349 
 
 Oliver G., Lottie C, Addison W., William, 
 and J. Melvin. All are living except 
 William. 
 
 Mr. Gilford i.s a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias Lodge, No. 129, of Athens, and Grand 
 Master of the E.xchequer of the Grand Lodge 
 of the Knights of Pythias of the State of New 
 York. He is also a member of the Catskill 
 Tribe of Red Men, and of the Board of Trade 
 of Athens, and is vice-president of the Elec- 
 tric Light Company of his town. 
 
 tKV. ANDREW VAN VRANKEN 
 RAYMOND, D.D., LL.D, president 
 — ^ of Lhiion University, Schenectady, 
 was born at Vischer's Ferr)-, Saratoga County, 
 N.Y., August 8, 1854, son of the Rev. Henry 
 Augustus and Catharine M. Raymond. On 
 the paternal side he is descended from a long 
 line of American ancestors of English origin, 
 the first of whom crossed the Atlantic in 1629. 
 The grandfather was Clapp Raymond, a native 
 of Norvvalk, Conn. 
 
 The Rev. Henry Augustus Raymond, the 
 father, was born in Patterson, Putnam County, 
 N.Y. , May 30, 1804. He was graduated at 
 Yale University with the class of 1825; and, 
 entering the ministry, he labored in tlic Dutch 
 Reformed churches in New York State during 
 the greater part of his active period. 
 
 Andrew Van Vranken Raymond completed 
 the regular course of study at the Troy High 
 School in 1871, was graduated from Union 
 College in 1775, and from the New Bruns- 
 wick Theological Seminary in 1878. His 
 
 initial call was to the First Reformed 
 Church in Paterson, N.J., where he remained 
 from 1878 to 1 88 1. He occupied the pul- 
 pit of Trinity Reformed Church, Plainfield, 
 N.J., for the succeeding si.\ years; and, ac- 
 cepting a call to the pastorate of the Fourth 
 Presbyterian Church, Albany, he labored in 
 tiiat city for seven years, or until 1894. He 
 was the ninth pastor of that church, and the 
 fifth occupant of its pulpit to be selected for 
 college work, having been chosen president 
 of Union University in 1894. He was hon- 
 ored by his Alma Mater with the degree of 
 Doctor of Divinity in 1S87 and by Williams 
 College with that of Doctor of Laws in 1894. 
 He was elected moderator of the Presbyterian 
 Synod of New York in 1891 ; was a commis- 
 sioner to the General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian church for the years 1888, 1891, and 
 1893. He belongs to the Phi Beta Kappa and 
 the Alpha Delta Phi Societies. 
 
 LMER E. PELHAM, proprietor of "The 
 Kenwood," at Haines Falls, town 
 of Hunter, Greene County, N. Y., was born 
 near Palenville, this county, August 30, 1863, 
 son of Snyder and Christina (Sa.xe) Pelham. 
 His parents are natives of the same town, 
 and his grandfather, Peter Pelham, was a 
 lifelong resident of the vicinity of Palen- 
 ville. His father learned the trade of a black- 
 smith, which he followed near Palenville many 
 years, and he is still living at his former place 
 of business. He is a Republican in politics. 
 His wife, Christina, was a daughter of Jere- 
 
3S« 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 miah Saxe, a farmer near Palenville. She 
 is the mother of four sons, all of whom are 
 living; namely, Jeremiah P., Harvey C. , 
 Elmer E., and Adam A. The jiarents attend 
 the Reformed church. 
 
 Elmer E. Pelham was educated in the com- 
 mon schools of his native town, and remained 
 at home until sixteen years of age. He then 
 came to the Haines Falls House, where he was 
 employed for twelve years, and at the expira- 
 tion of that time he erected the present house, 
 known as "The Kenwood," situated near the 
 Haines Corners railroad station. It is located 
 on high ground, is equipped with all modern 
 improvements, and has accommodations for 
 fifty jaeople. Mr. Pelham has been in the 
 boarding business nearly ten years, has been 
 successful, and is well known throughout the 
 county. 
 
 In 1888 Mr. Pelham was united in marriage 
 with Elida F. Fatum, daughter of Henry 
 l-'atum, of Saugerties, N.Y. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Pelham have one son, Fred E. 
 
 DWARD ADAMS, wholesale and retail 
 .dealer in meat at Haines Falls, N. Y. , 
 was born in Durham, Greene County, I'ebruary 
 I, 1838, son of Seymour and Maria (Chidister) 
 Adams. His grandfather, Joseph Adams, who 
 was a native of Connecticut and of English 
 descent, carried on a farm in the vicinity of 
 Hartford when a young man, later moving to 
 Durham, near Cornwallville, where he spent 
 some years, and then settled on a farm in 
 Cairo, where he died at the advanced age of 
 
 ninety-seven years. Grandfather's wife, with 
 whom he lived for over seventy years, died at 
 the age of ninety-nine years and six months. 
 She was the mother of five children. 
 
 Seymour Adams, father of Edward, was born 
 in Hartford, Conn., and was educated in the 
 common schools. He began to support him- 
 self by conducting a farm on shares, later 
 coming to Cairo, where he purchased a piece 
 of property and rented it to the agricultural 
 society. He was engaged in business in the 
 village of Cairo for a time, and on relinquish- 
 ing that he gave his whole attention to his 
 farm, which was devoted to dairy purposes. 
 F'or forty-four years he supplied the Catskill 
 Mountain House with poultry, butter, and 
 eggs. In politics he usually votetl the Repub- 
 lican ticket, and was well known throughout 
 the county. He was a charter member of the 
 Masonic lodge in Cairo. His wife, Maria, 
 was a daughter of William Chidister, of Kiska- 
 tom. Her father was a farmer, and in early 
 life owned the proiK'rt}' which was later pur- 
 chased by her husband. The last years of his 
 life were spent in retirement at Cairo, where he 
 died at the age of eighty-two. Seymour and 
 Maria C. Adams were the parents of five chil- 
 dren ; namely, Edward, Emily, William, liliz- 
 abeth, and Eliza. lunily married William 
 Lewis, of Cairo, N.Y. ; William resides in 
 Rensselaer County, New York; and Eliza died 
 at the age of thirty-five. 
 
 Edward Adams was educated in the common 
 schools. He worked on a farm in Acra until 
 his marriage, when he jnuxhased a farm in 
 Cairo, on which he followed farming until 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3SI- 
 
 1870. In that year he came to his present lo- 
 cation, three and one-half miles from Tanners- 
 ville, on the Little Delaware Turnpike, and 
 started in the meat business, having as a sole 
 customer the Catskill Mountain House, which 
 he has supplied for the past twenty-eight years. 
 As the hotels increased in number, he added 
 to his list of patrons the Laurel House, the 
 Hotel Kaaterskill, and others, his business 
 becoming extensive. He supplied in 1898 
 two hundred and thirty-two hotels and board- 
 ing-houses, selling in five Saturdays, from 
 July 30 to August 27, forty-four thousand 
 eight hundred and ninety-seven pounds of meat. 
 He runs three two-horse and two one-horse 
 wagons, and employs seventeen men. He 
 buys the choicest cuts of beef, slaughtered for 
 him in New York, and uses about two carloads 
 per week. He kills all the lamb and veal on 
 his own premises, employing a buyer of live 
 stock on the road, and keeps from ten to twelve 
 tons of beef on hand at all times during the 
 summer, his two refrigerators holding five hun- 
 dred tons of ice. By adhering to the prin- 
 ciple of fair dealing he has built up this large 
 trade unaided. His residence, barn, ice-house, 
 slaughter-house, and refrigerators were built 
 under his personal supervision. Pie keeps ten 
 horses and five wagons for delivering his meat. 
 He also owns a farm of one hundred acres. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Adams married Adelia A. 
 Crary, a native of Delaware County, adopted 
 daughter of Jacob Craft. They have three 
 children: Jennie and Jessie, twins; and Ida 
 May. Jennie married George White, a hotel- 
 keeper near East Durham, N.Y. , son of Will- 
 
 iam White; and she has one son, Edward. 
 Jessie married Sherwood H. Camp, a carpen- 
 ter in Catskill, N.Y. , son of Harmon Camp, 
 formerly of Windham, N.Y. , and has one 
 daughter, Edna. Ida May married Joseph 
 Hand, of New York City, formerly manager of 
 Marlboro Hotel and now clerk for a broker in 
 Wall Street. They have three children — Eva, 
 Florence, and Joseph. 
 
 Mr. Adams is a Democrat in politics, and 
 takes an active interest in political matters. 
 He was Supervisor one term in Cairo, but re- 
 fused a renomination. He is a charter mem- 
 ber of Kademak Lodge, No. 693, F. & A. M., 
 was Junior Warden when the lodge was first 
 established, and is one of the few now living 
 who organized the lodge. He is also a mem- 
 ber of the Royal Arch Masons. He is liberal 
 in his religious belief and a strict observer of 
 Sunday as a day of rest. 
 
 TTAHARLES H. RAMSEY, president of 
 I J| the Howe's Cave Association, was 
 ^ ' born in Lawyersville, N. Y. , on Jan- 
 uary 3, 1853, son of the Hon. Joseph Henry 
 and Sarah (Boyce) Ramsey. He comes from 
 a line of able and honest men and stanch Re- 
 publicans. His great-great-grandfather was 
 one of the pioneer settlers of Schoharie 
 County. Frederick Ramsey, his grandfather, 
 was born in Guilderland, and worked there for 
 a time at his trade, which was that of black- 
 smith. He subsequently settled on a farm in 
 Cobleskill, where he spent the rest of his life, 
 attaining the age of seventy-eight years. He 
 
352 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 died at the liome of one of his daughters. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Sarah \'an 
 Schaick, lived to the advanced age of ninety- 
 four. She was a native of this county, and a 
 devoted member of the Methodist church. Of 
 their ten ciiil(hvn, seven daughters and one 
 son are living, the latter being Robert Ram- 
 sey, of Argusville. 
 
 The Hon. Joseph Henry Ramsey, for man)- 
 years a leading citizen of .Schoharie County, 
 was burn in tlie town of .Sharon <in January 
 29, 1816, and (lied in May, 1X94. He studied 
 law with Jedediah Miller, and was admitted to 
 practise in all the courts of the State in 1 .S40. 
 .Subsequent to this, he continued for some time 
 in Mr. Miller's office, and eventually suc- 
 ceeded to his i^racticc; but he afterward re- 
 moved his office to I.awyersville, where he 
 remained until his removal to Albany in 1863. 
 In 185s he rejiresented the Northern Assembly 
 Di.strict, having as his colleague from the 
 Southern District, Wilkinson Wilsey. This 
 was the last time the county was represented 
 by two members. In the fall of that year he 
 was sent as a delegate to the Whig State Con- 
 vention, and was made a member also of the 
 Joint Convention, composed of the members of 
 the Whig Convention and a .State convention 
 of Free .Soil Democrats, which foinied the Re- 
 publican party in this State. This was fol- 
 lowed by his election to the State Senate the 
 same year, as a Republican from the .Seven- 
 teenth Senatorial District, which comprised 
 Schoharie and Delaware Counties. In 1866 
 he was nominated as a candidate for Congress, 
 but failed of election. In 1S71, 1872, and 
 
 1873 he was a delegate from Albany to the 
 Republican State Convention, and also a mem- 
 ber of the Republican State Committee. He 
 took an active part against Judge Barnard, who 
 made the order in favor of Gould and Tisk, 
 and secured his impeachment by the Senate, 
 and the pas.sage of a decree forbidding the 
 judge to hold further office under the civil 
 government. 
 
 Joseph H. Ramsey was a well-known rail- 
 road man, having been officiall\- connected 
 with a nuniher of important roads. Trior to 
 1858 he was active in securing subscription 
 for the building of the Albany & Susque- 
 hanna Raili'oad, and showed himself so efficient 
 that in 185S he was chosen director and vice- 
 president of the company. This company was 
 organized in 1852; stock had been subscribed 
 along the line and at Albany to the amount of 
 a million dollars; and the city of Albany had 
 been authorized to loan the company, on cer- 
 tain conditions, another million dollars of its 
 bonds. Work had already begun at iliffeient 
 ]ioints in Albaii)', Schoharie, Otsego, and 
 Broome Counties, but an unexpected revulsion 
 occurred in railroad affairs, which rendered it 
 difficult to secure further funds. This created 
 an uneasy feeling among the stockholders, and 
 they were glad to accept a jiroposal m:u\c by 
 the Delaware & Hudson Canal Comjiany, by 
 which the Canal C^ompany assumed the pay- 
 ment of the princi]ial and interest of the 
 bonded debt of the road, and the original 
 stockholders were to receive semi-annual divi- 
 dends of seven i)er cent, per annum. As this 
 was a virtual sale of the road and its franchises 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 353 
 
 to the Canal Company, Mr. Ramsey and others 
 of the directors were opposed to it. They 
 would have preferred to keep it independent of 
 any coal or other company, to have liberal 
 rates for transportation in order to have con- 
 tracted upon the line the largest amount of 
 business possible, and to have the original 
 stockholders reap the full benefits accruing. 
 As few roads in the State have been better 
 paying property, it is seen to-day that his 
 judgment was correct. After the execution of 
 the lease, Mr. Coe F. Young, the general 
 manager of the Canal Comisany, was elected 
 president of the road in place of Mr. Ramsey. 
 The latter was also president of the New York 
 & Albany Railroad Company, and, subsequent 
 to the death of the Hon. Erastus Corning, 
 president of the Albany Iron Manufacturing- 
 Company. The furnances of the last-named 
 company in Albany were built during his in- 
 cumbency. Mr. Joseph H. Ramsey was also 
 president of the Howe's Cave Cement Com- 
 pany. His wife, who was born in Sharon and 
 died in 1892, at the age of seventy-si.x, was 
 one of seven children born to Daniel Boyce, 
 farmer and miller of Shirley, and the grand- 
 daughter on her mother's side of Colonel Rice 
 of Revolutionary fame. Of Mrs. Ramsey's 
 seven children, three are living, namely : Har- 
 riet, who is the wife of the Rev. Pascal nar- 
 rower, pastor of the Episcopal church at West 
 New Brighton, Long Island; Frances, who 
 married Dr. H. A. Crary ; and Charles H. 
 Ramsey. 
 
 Charles H. Ramsey fitted for college at 
 VVilliamstown, Mass. He was graduated at 
 
 Cornell University in 1874, and from the Al- 
 bany Law School in 1875, and the following 
 year was admitted to the bar. Shortly after 
 he came to Howe's Cave as secretary of the 
 company, which had then just started. Upon 
 the death of his father he was made president. 
 He has watched the growth of the plant, and 
 has been closely identified with its develop- 
 ment. It is now one of the leading industries 
 of the county, and when running full time 
 employs one hundred and fifty men. Large 
 quantities of lime, cement, and plaster are 
 manufactured ; also building stone. 
 
 Mr. Ramsey was married in May, 1879, to 
 Annie E. Stevens, who was born in Sloanes- 
 ville, daughter of Mark W. and Lucy (Phelps) 
 Stevens. Her father, who died at the age of 
 sixty-eight, was the president of Schoharie 
 County Bank, and a very prominent man in 
 his section. Her mother dietl when Mrs. 
 Ramsey was twelve years old. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Ramsey have four children — Margaret, Joseph 
 H., Mark W., and Charles H. 
 
 Mr. Ramsey is a man of very varied busi- 
 ness interests. He is director in the Scho- 
 harie and Otsego Insurance Company, of 
 Cobleskill; president of the New York & 
 Canadian Pacific Railroad, which runs from 
 Ogdensburg to New York ; trustee of the 
 Cobleskill Cemetery, and member of the 
 Schoharie County Historical Society. He is 
 an attendant of the Reformed church, while 
 his wife is a member of the Presbyterian 
 church. P'raternally, he is a member of the 
 Masonic Lodge of Cobleskill, and of John L. 
 Lewis Chapter; also of the Kappa Alpha, 
 
35-4 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 which is the oldest college society in exist- 
 ence. As might be expected, his political 
 principles arc Republican. 
 
 J@ 
 
 R. A. W. CLARK, a skilful dental 
 ^ m practitioner and graduate optician, 
 of Jefferson, Schoharie County, the 
 founder and for some years editor and pub- 
 lisher of the Ji-ffersoiiicDi, now known as the 
 Jefferson Courier, was born in Blenheim, 
 N. Y. , August 20, 1843, son of John A. and 
 Catherine (Van der Vort) Clark. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Randall Clark, 
 came to this country from Rhode Island and 
 settled in Blenheim, where he became quite 
 an extensive farmer and land-owner. Randall 
 Clark married Phoebe Dorcas Tucker, and his 
 children were: Benjamin, Eliza, Alfred, John 
 A., Stephen, Lucinda, Charles, Mary J., Will- 
 iam, and Hilmer. Of these the only survivor 
 is Eliza, who is residing in Rhode Island. 
 Hilmer died while still young, and the other 
 sons all engaged in farming. 
 
 John A. Clark, Dr. Clark's father, came to 
 this county when a boy, and was reared at the 
 homestead which he occupied in part until his 
 death. He was prosperous as a general 
 farmer, and at one time owned al)out three 
 luindred and fifty acres of land. Politically, 
 he was in his later years a Republican. He 
 attended the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 was an earnest advocate of temperance. He 
 lived to be sixty-six years old, and his wife 
 survived him ten years. They were the par- 
 ents of nine children, namely: A. \V. Clark, 
 
 the subject of this sketch; Alzada, wife of 
 C. B. Atwood, a lawyer of Watertown, Conn. ; 
 Lindon, a resident of Blenheim; Le Grantl 
 and La Grange, twins, both of whom live at 
 the homestead; Fremont, who resides in 
 Delhi, N. Y. ; John J., also a resident of that 
 town; Ida, who married VV. L. Cranch, and 
 resides at Thompson, Conn. ; and Ida Ursula, 
 who died when about six years old. 
 
 A. W. Clark pursued his elementary studies 
 in the common schools of Blenheim, and ad- 
 vanced in learning by attending the Stamford 
 Seminary. After leaving school he went to 
 Auburn, N.Y., with a view of engaging in 
 business, but at the solicitation of Dr. A. A. 
 Wood, who was then practising in Jefferson, 
 he began the study of medicine in that doc- 
 tor's office, and continued it for eighteen 
 months. P'ailing health caused him to relin- 
 quish his studies, and while resting he deter- 
 mined to abandon medicine for dentistry. He 
 accordingly became a student in the office of 
 Dr. H. S. Wood, of Stamford, with whom he 
 made rapid progress, and in 1866 he began 
 the practice of his profession in Jefferson, 
 where he has since resided. An experience 
 of over thirty years has given opportunities 
 for acquiring a varied knowledge of dentistry, 
 and his business is both large and profitable. 
 He has availed himself of all modern improve- 
 ments in the way of appliances. He is a 
 graduate of the National College of Electro- 
 therapeutics, Lima, Ohio, which college con- 
 ferred upon him the degree of Master of 
 Electro-theraiieutics (M.E.). He deals in 
 dentists' sup|)lies, and has travelled consider- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 3SS 
 
 ably in the interests of this branch of his 
 business. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Dr. Clark purchased a small job 
 printing-office for the purpose of devoting his 
 leisure moments to some useful employment, 
 and engaged in the printing of small hand- 
 bills, letter-heads, etc. He was shortly after- 
 ward requested by his fellow-townsmen to es- 
 tablish a newspaper, which he agreed to do 
 provided a sufficient sum was raised to pur- 
 chase a press. Although but half the neces- 
 sary amount was subscribed, he determined to 
 seethe scheme through; and, making up the 
 deficiency from his own pocket, he bought the 
 desired machinery. Without knowledge or 
 experience, he entered upon his new enter- 
 prise, to which he gave every moment of 
 time that could possibly be spared from 
 his professional duties; and as a result of 
 his indefatigable labors the initial number of 
 the Jeffersoiiiaii, the first newspaper ever 
 issued in Jefferson, was delivered to the 
 people on March 6, 1S72. The paper was a 
 success from the start, and its subsequent en- 
 largement was made necessary to meet the de- 
 mands of local advertisers. For about nine 
 years its founder continued to edit and pub- 
 lish the Jcjfcrsouian, which, under his man- 
 agement, performed its mission in an able 
 manner. He contributed much valuable mat- 
 ter in connection with the publication of the 
 Roscoe History of Schoharie County, and has 
 since written for publication in the Jefferson 
 Courier considerable historic matter, col- 
 lected as far back as 1730, pertaining to the 
 history of Schoharie County and the border 
 
 wars of New York, giving a detailed narrative 
 of many tragic scenes enacted on the frontiers 
 of New York. He is now engaged in collect- 
 ing dates and writing the history of the Clark 
 family. 
 
 Dr. Clark married Sarah A. Phincle, 
 daughter of William and Anna (Toles) 
 Phincle. They have had two children : Sarah, 
 who died in infancy; and La Mancha, who 
 was graduated at the Pennsylvania College of 
 Dental Surgery at Philadelphia in 1898, that 
 college conferring upon him the degree of 
 Doctor of Dental Surgery. He stood high in 
 his class of one hundred and eight, of which 
 he was the youngest. He married Florence 
 Lilian Lee, of Glen Castle, N.Y., on Febru- 
 ary 8, 1899. He is a fine operator, gold fil- 
 lings and crown and bridge work being his 
 specialty. The young Doctor is now asso- 
 ciated with his father in a large and successful 
 practice. 
 
 As a progressive, public-spirited citizen the 
 Doctor takes an active interest in public im- 
 provements, and is a stockholder in the water- 
 works. He belongs to the Masonic order and 
 other organizations, and frequently attends 
 the meetings of the State Dental Society. 
 The family are all members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 ILLARD LARKIN, a practical and 
 progressive farmer of Schoharie, 
 N. Y. , was born at Central Bridge, Schoharie 
 County, October 3, i860, son of John W. and 
 Nancy M. (Enders) Larkin. His paternal 
 
3S6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 grandfather, Daniel Larkin, a native of Rhode 
 Island, was one of the jMoneer settlers of 
 Central Bridge, where he settled in early life, 
 and prior to his death, at the age of seventy 
 years, had redeemed a good farm from the 
 forest. He was a strong Re|niblican in poli- 
 tics, very influential in ]iuhlic affairs, and 
 served several years as County Sheriff, being 
 the only Republican in the county ever elected 
 to that office. His second wife, Nancy Boyd, 
 bori' him three children, one of whom was 
 Ji)lin W'., the father above named. Both 
 Daniel Larkin and his wife Nancy were mem- 
 bers of the Reformed church, in which he held 
 most of the offices. 
 
 John W. Larkin completed his education at 
 the CharlotteviUe Academy, and subsequently 
 assisted in the care of the old homestead, 
 which came into his possession after the death 
 of his parents. He was a very energetic and 
 thrifty farmer, successful in his unilertakings, 
 and he added to the improvements of the es- 
 tate the hue set of buildings now standing. 
 He died in the ])rime of life, at the age of 
 fifty-six years. An unswerving Republican in 
 politics, he served as Supervisor during four 
 terms of one year each, at one time being 
 chairman of the boanl, the only Republican 
 in the county to hold a similar office. I'or 
 several years he was one of the trustees of the 
 Lutheran church, to whicli he and his wife be- 
 longed, and he was also a valued worker in 
 the Sunday-school. He married Nancy M. 
 Enders, daughter of Peter I. Enders, an ex- 
 tensive farmer and land-owner of Central 
 IJridtre. Of the six children l)orn of their 
 
 union four are now living, as follows: Will- 
 ard, the subject of this sketch; Daniel; Mary 
 K., wife of Frederick R. Earquher; and 
 Delia B., wife of Robert -S. Arcularius, of 
 Brooklyn, N.Y. The mother died at the age 
 of forty-six years. 
 
 Willard Larkin received his education in 
 the common schools and at the Schoharie and 
 the Claverack Academies. Returning to the 
 parental home, he assisted in the farm work 
 for several years, and hel|Ted to erect the pres- 
 ent farm buildings. When ready to establish 
 a home of his own, he bought his present farm 
 of one hundred and five or more acres, which 
 by judicious toil and superior management he 
 has made one of the most valuable and attrac- 
 tive estates in this section of the county. A 
 few years ago he rebuilt the house, barn, and 
 out-buildings, which are commodious and well 
 equipped. Since the death of his mother I\lr. 
 Larkin has managed the homestead property 
 in connection with his own farm, having now 
 the charge of two hundred and twenty-five 
 acres of land, which he devotes to general 
 farming, stock-raising, and dairying. In pol- 
 itics he is a strong Republican, and in 1896 
 was elected Commissioner of Highways for a 
 term of two years. 
 
 On November 29, iS(Si, Mr. Larkin mar- 
 ried Ruth H. Hoag, who was born in Sloans- 
 ville, Schoharie County, daughter of John I. 
 and Mary (Carr) Hoag. Her grandfather, 
 David Hoag, was one of the earliest pioneers 
 of that village, where he was long engaged in 
 clearing and cultivating the land. He at- 
 tained the age of eighty-nine years. John I. 
 
CI.AKENCIC E. lil.ooIXUJOl). 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 359 
 
 Hoag carried on farming on the old home 
 farm until his death, March 20, 1898. His 
 wife, Mary, was born in Carlisle, and was one 
 of the fourteen children of John and Eliza 
 (Sweetman) Carr, seven of whom are still liv- 
 ing. Ten children were born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hoag. The two now living are: Mrs. 
 Larkin; and her brother, George W. Hoag, a 
 merchant in Sloansville. Their mother died 
 at the age of fifty-six years. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Larkin's only child, John H., 
 died wlien eleven years old. Mr. Larkin and 
 his wife are prominent members of the 
 Lutheran church at Central Bridge, of which 
 he is treasurer, and both are teachers in the 
 Sunday-school, in which Mr. Larkin has been 
 superintendent for six years. Mrs. Larkin is 
 president of the Home and Foreign Mission- 
 ary Society of Hartwick Synod; and Mr. 
 Larkin has been president of the County 
 Union of the Christian Endeavor Society for 
 five years, attending four meetings each year 
 in different parts of the county. In 1895 he 
 went as a delegate to the convention in 
 Cleveland. Mrs. Larkin is a member of the 
 local VV. C. T. U. 
 
 iL.'\RENCE E. BLOODGOOD, of the 
 Ji firm of Bloodgood & Tallmadge, Cats- 
 kill's well-known attorneys, was 
 born in Jewett on February 3, 1849, •'^"''' "^f 
 Jason and Lucinda (Coe) Bloodgood. His 
 father, who is now, at the age of eighty-four, 
 living retired in the village of Hensonville, 
 is tlie grandson of William Bloodgood, one of 
 
 tlie pioneer settlers of Conesville, Schoharie 
 County, coming to that place from New Jer- 
 sey and originally from Long Island. 
 
 William Bloodgood fought for American in- 
 dependence in the Revolutionary War. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Mary Dingle, 
 was from New England. She died in 1833, 
 surviving her husband si.xteen years, his death 
 having occurred in 1817. Their son, Lewis, 
 the ne.Nt in line of descent, was born in Sclio- 
 harie County, and spent his life there in the 
 town of Conesville, engaged in farming. He 
 married Catherine Califf. He died about 
 1 82 1, when his son Jason was a lad of si.x 
 years. 
 
 Jason Bloodgood began his working life 
 when very young. He was engaged for a 
 number of years at farming and lumbering in 
 his native town, and then he removed to a farm 
 in Jewett, where he remained until 1887. 
 Since that time he has resided in Hensonville. 
 He is a Democrat in politics. His wife, Mrs. 
 Lucinda C. Bloodgood, died in 1893. She 
 was born in Jewett on October i, 1809, being 
 the daughter of Justus and Ruth (Bailey) Coe 
 and one of a family of six children. Her 
 father was born in Goshen, Conn., and came to 
 Jewett in the early days of its settlement, find- 
 ing his way thither by means of marked trees. 
 There he spent the remainder of his days, 
 making his home at first in a tiny log cabin 
 and having but the barest necessities of life. 
 He was a Deacon in the Presbyterian church, 
 which he helped to build, and one of its active 
 supporters throughout his life. He died at 
 the age of eighty-four, and his wife died at the 
 
360 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 age of sixty-five. None of their seven chil- 
 dren are living. 
 
 Ja.son and Lucinda C. liloodgood were the 
 parents of seven children, of whom six arc liv- 
 ing. These are as follows: Levi; Cyrus E. ; 
 Clarence E. ; Tremain S., of Jewett ; Mary, 
 who is the wife of IVIr. Van Valkenberg, of 
 Catskill; and Isaac L. All the men of this 
 family are prominent citizens in the towns 
 where they reside. Three of the brothers ha\'e 
 been Town Supervisors. Levi and Isaac are 
 in partnership, and conduct the large general 
 merchandise business at Hensonville. Levi 
 and his brother Cyrus E. bought the business 
 in 1868 of Messrs. Brown & Loughran, and 
 were in i)artnership for seventeen years, when 
 Cyrus sold his interest to the youngest 
 brother. Levi Bloodgood married Kate Bed- 
 ford, of Delaware County, and has two daugh- 
 ters : Lena, who was educated at Stamford 
 Seminary, and is now a teacher of vocal and 
 instrumental music; and Lettie, who is in 
 school. He is one of the leading Democrats 
 of his county, was Town Supervisor in 1890 
 and 1 89 1, has been chairman of the Town 
 Committee and many times a delegate to both 
 town and county conventions. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist church and prominent in 
 Sunday-school work. Cyrus E. Bloodgood is 
 at the present time Clerk of Greene County. 
 He was chairman of the Board of Supervisors 
 of the county in 1882. Tremain is a farmer. 
 For two years he represented his town, Jewett, 
 in the Greene County Board of Supervisors. 
 
 Clarence E. Bloodgood in his early years at- 
 tended the common schools, and subsequently 
 
 a school at Jewett Heights. He then taught 
 two terms in Jewett, and in 1S69 entered 
 Stamford Seminary. There he continued his 
 studies until July, 1871, with the exception of 
 one winter, during which he was teaching. In 
 July, 1 87 1, he took the examinations for Yale, 
 passing through New York on the twelfth of 
 the month, while the Orangemen's riot was in 
 progress. In the fall of that year he entered 
 the Freshman class, and in 1875 was graduated 
 in the classical department, receiving honors. 
 Among his classmates were the following- 
 named men, who have since been distinguished 
 in national life: John Patton, United States 
 Senator from Michigan; Albert S. Jenks, re- 
 cently elected Judge of the Supreme Court of 
 the Second District of New York State; John 
 S. Seymour, formerly of Connecticut, now of 
 New York City, who was Commissioner of Pat- 
 ents under Cleveland's last administration; 
 Edward S. Jones, Fir.st Assistant Postmaster- 
 General under the same administration; lul- 
 ward S. Atwater, of Poughkeepsie, candidate 
 for Comptroller on the Democratic ticket in 
 1898; and Edward C. .Smith, at present Gov- 
 ernor of Vermont. 
 
 In the fall of iS'75 Mr. Bloodgood was 
 elected School Commissioner of the First Dis- 
 trict of Greene County ; and this position he 
 held for nine years. In 1879 he began the 
 study of law in the office of J. B. Olney, of 
 Catskill, and in January, 1885, was admitted 
 to the bar. He immediately began the prac- 
 tice of law, and twelve years later formed the 
 partnership with Mr. Tallmadge. The firm 
 has one of the largest law libraries in the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 361 
 
 county, and its practice is very extensive. 
 Both partners have a wide circle of acquaint- 
 ance throughout this section of the State, and 
 command universal confidence. 
 
 In 1 89 1 and 1S92 Mr. Bloodgood served as 
 State Senator from the Fourteenth District, 
 which then included Greene, Ulster, and 
 Schoharie Counties. He was a memher of the 
 Judiciary Committee, of the Committee on 
 Finance, and of the Committee on Canals, 
 Roads, Bridges, and Poor Laws, and was 
 chairman of the last two. He introduced some 
 hills of importance, among others one that had 
 been many times before presented and as often 
 failed to pass. Against the opposition of 
 members from large cities he secured the 
 passage of the law, enlarging the scope of in- 
 vestments for savings-banks. Mr. Bloodgood 
 believes in "sound money." He has been 
 continuously active in all duties of good 
 citizenship since he graduated from college. 
 In 1S95 he was chairman of the Democratic 
 County Committee. He is at the present time 
 a member of the State Committee for the 
 Twenty-fifth Senatorial District. He has 
 been a member of the State Bar Association 
 since 1S92. In 1S97 he was elected vice- 
 president of the association for the Third Judi- 
 cial District of the State of New York, and 
 last January was re-elected to the same posi- 
 tion for the current year. In i8g6 also he was 
 appointed by the Secretary of the Interior spe- 
 cial commissioner to investigate certain mat- 
 ters connected with the Osage Indians; but, as 
 the acceptance of the position would require 
 him to spend an indefinite time in the Indian 
 
 Territory, he felt obliged to decline the honor. 
 Mr. Bloodgood was married in 1892 to Joseph- 
 ine L. Case, of Catskill, daughter of Hiram 
 Case. Mrs. Bloodgood was born in what is 
 known as Potter's Hollow, Albany County. 
 Mr. Bloodgood during the two years, 1895 and 
 1896, was president of the Rip Van Winkle 
 Club, which is the leading social club of Cats- 
 kill. He is secretary and treasurer of the Com- 
 mercial Mutual Fire Insurance Association of 
 Catskill. 
 
 M 
 
 OW FONDA VROMAN, a leading 
 i(^ . citizen of Middleburg and represen- 
 tative of one of the oldest families 
 in the county, was born in this town on a farm 
 adjoining his present dwelling-place on No- 
 vember 14, 1 83 1, his parents being Henry and 
 Catharine (Hagadorne) Vroman. 
 
 The first title to Schoharie lands known to 
 have been recorded was obtained by his ances- 
 tor, Adam Vroman, from the Indians, and has 
 since been known as Vroman's land. It is 
 located two miles south-west of Middleburer. 
 The conveyance is dated Schenectady, August 
 20, 171 1. Adam Vroman obtained a royal 
 patent to these lands from King George on 
 August 26, 1 7 14. On March 30, 1726, he 
 obtained a new grant from the Indians. 
 Twenty families of Hollanders settled here, 
 and there was considerable friction between 
 them and the Palatinates before friendly rela- 
 tions were established. Adam Vroman was 
 born in Holland in 1649, and came to this 
 country with his father, Hendrick Meese Vro- 
 man, in 1670, settling first in Schenectady. 
 
362 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 The father was killed in the massacre there in 
 1690. Adam's two brothers were named Jan 
 and Bartholomew. He lived in Schenectady 
 diirinfj the i^reater part of his life, and is bur- 
 ied there; but his death occurred in Middle- 
 bur.L; in 1730, at the home of iiis son. He was 
 three times married, successively to Engeltie 
 Ryckman, Grietje Van .Slyck, and Grietje 
 Takelse Hemstreet. His first wife and her 
 infant child were killed in the massacre. 
 
 .Adam's son Peter was born in Schenectady 
 on IMay 4, 1684. He came fmrn that place, 
 and settled in Middleburg, in the part now- 
 called F'ulton, on the banks of the -Schoharie 
 River, where he cleared a large tract of land. 
 His relations with the Indians were most 
 friendly. He died in 1777. His wife, 
 (irietje Van Alstyne, who was born in Albany 
 of Dutch parentage, was the mother of twehe 
 children, seven sons and five daughters. 
 
 Adam Vroman, second, son of the above 
 named Peter, and great-grandfather of Dow F. 
 Vroman, was born at P^ulton on September 21, 
 1707. and died of consumption in 1754. De- 
 spite his feeble health, he was a man of much 
 energy, and one of the most progressive 
 farmers of this region. 
 
 Jonas Vroman, grandfather of the sLibjcct of 
 this sketch, was born in Middleburg, now P'ul- 
 ton, on Ai)ril i, 1735, and died on April 16, 
 1804. U|ion reaching his majority, he moved 
 to the farm which adjoins Dow ¥. Vroman's 
 ])roperty, and there built in 1792-93 the 
 hou.se, the main [lart of which is .still stand- 
 ing. He was a lifelong fainier. His wife, 
 whose maiden name was Deliah Hager, died 
 
 in 1S30, at the age of ninety-one. They were 
 the parents of two sons. 
 
 Of these Henry, above named, was born on 
 the farm his father had settled, and there he 
 continued to reside thoughout his life. Ujjon 
 the death of his father he came into ]iossession 
 of the propety. He was a man of considera- 
 ble prominence hereabouts, and was at differ- 
 ent times Lieutenant and Captain in the 
 militia. Both he and his wife Catherine were 
 members of the Dutch Reformed church. The 
 latter was a native of Middleburg, now Ful- 
 ton, and daughter of John Hagadorne. She 
 died at the age of seventy-nine ; and her hus- 
 banil died on March 2, 1859, at the age of 
 eighty-two. Of their family of ten children, 
 three are living; namely, Dow Fonda, Adam, 
 and Susan, who is the wife of Lsaac Borst. 
 
 Dow F. Vroman received good mental train- 
 ing in the public schools, and resided at home 
 with his parents until he was twenty years of 
 age, at the end of which time he left home and 
 travelled for about four years. Returning 
 then to Middleburg, he purchased the farm of 
 forty acres adjoining his father's estate, which 
 has since been his home. In 1854 he married 
 Margaret Smith, one of a family of ten chil- 
 dren born to Martin Smith, a farmer of Albany 
 County, New York. Of this union nine chil- 
 dren have been born, namely: Eugene, who 
 resides in Middleburg; Charles, who married 
 Mary Best, and is engaged in business here; 
 Henry, who is a farmer in California; Kate, 
 who resides with her ])arents ; Dow, a lawyer 
 of Tonawanda, Niagara County, a graduate of 
 Union College antl Albany Law School; 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 363 
 
 Smith, an engineer in California; Margaret, 
 who resides with lier parents; Guy, who is 
 a civil engineer, a graduate of Union College, 
 Schenectady, in the class of 1898'; and Roy, 
 who is attending the high school. Mr. Vro- 
 man is a man of superior intelligence, and pos- 
 sesses a wide and thorough knowledge of men 
 and affairs. He has made a careful study of 
 the family history, and is an authority on all 
 points connected with it. In politics he is a 
 Democrat ; but, although he is one of the lead- 
 ing men in his party, he has never cared to 
 hold public office. In 1890, iSgi, and 1892 
 he served as Supervisor of Middleburg. His 
 wife and two daughters are members of the Re- 
 formed church. 
 
 T^HAUNCEY W. HINMAN, attorney- 
 l J[ at-law and Justice of the Peace, resid- 
 
 ^ ^ ing at Schoharie, N. Y. , was born 
 
 in Middleburg on June 4, 1835, son of John 
 S. and Margaret (Pausley) Hinman. His 
 grandfather, Justus Hinman, by occupation a 
 mechanic, was a native of the State of Con- 
 necticut. He removed to Kinderhook, Co- 
 lumbia County, in this State, among the early 
 settlers, and he lived there during the re- 
 mainder of his life. He died at the age of 
 eighty-one. His wife, who was before her 
 marriage Alice Spencer, was also born in 
 Connecticut. She lived to be eighty years of 
 age, and reared a family of eight children. 
 Of these only one son, Franklin by name, is 
 living. Both parents were members of the 
 Baptist church. 
 
 John S. Hinman was born in Kinderhook, 
 and was brought up in that town. When a 
 mere boy he left home, and for some years 
 subsequently he Journeyed from one place to 
 another, until at length he settled in Middle- 
 burg and carried on wagon-making, later en- 
 gaging in the practice of law. He became an 
 attorney of some note, and continued practice 
 for a quarter of a century. He was also Jus- 
 tice of the Peace for many years. In politics 
 he was a Democrat. His death occurred at 
 the age of fifty-si.\. His first wife, Margaret, 
 the mother of Chauncey W. Hinman, was the 
 daughter of Frederick and Christiana Pausley, 
 the father a lifelong farmer and during his 
 last years a resident of Middleburg. She was 
 bcrn in Schoharie, and died at the age of 
 thirty-three. Of the si.\ children born to 
 her, four are living, the record being as 
 follows: Chauncey; Charles; Helen, who is 
 the widow of William Bouck; and Mary 
 Jane, who is the wife of Jacob L. Zimmer, of 
 Wright. Mrs. Margaret Hinman was a de- 
 voted member of the Methodist church. The 
 second wife was a sister of the first, and she 
 was the mother of John, Justice, Albert, 
 Alice, and Catharine, of whom John and Jus- 
 tice are living. She died at the age of fifty- 
 eight. 
 
 Chauncey W. Hinman attended the public 
 schools until sixteen years of age, when he 
 left home and went to work in Franklinton 
 and Livingstonville, where he remained for 
 a short time. He subsequently worked in 
 Utica and elsewhere in Oneida County, in Al- 
 bany, and in Ohio, as a clerk, and then re- 
 
3^4 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 turned to Middleburg, where he learned the 
 harness-maker's trade, and subsequently car- 
 ried on business until 1862, when he enlisted 
 in Company D of the One Hundred and 
 Thirty-fourth Regiment as a private. He was 
 in active service, and through successive pro- 
 motions rose to the rank of Second Lieuten- 
 ant and finally to that of First Lieutenant. 
 He was at Chancellorsville and at Gettys- 
 burg, and at Tilton, in the fall of 1864, was 
 taken prisoner by the rebel forces. He was 
 carried to Andersonville, and there for six 
 months endured horrors worse than those of 
 open warfare. From being a solid, well-built 
 man weighing one hundred anil sixty-eight 
 pounds, he became reduced to a mere skele- 
 ton, and escaped death only by the fortunate 
 circumstance of his release. He saw thou- 
 sands of men breathe their last in the prison, 
 victims of starvation and disease. The daily 
 rations, whicli were never varied, were one- 
 half pint of corn meal, the same quantity of 
 beans, and one spoonful of molasses or two 
 ounces of meat. To this was added, once in 
 three days, a small tahlespoonful of salt. 
 Thirty men of Mr. Hinman's company shared 
 the horrors of prison life with him. 
 
 With peace came his release and subsequent 
 discharge from the army. Returning then to 
 Middleburg, Mr. Hinman began the business 
 of harness-making, but in 1867 he came to 
 Schoharie and began the study of law. Two 
 years later he was admitted to the bar, and at 
 once formed a partnership with his brother, 
 which continued until 1871. Since that time 
 Mr. Hinman has been alone. He is the sec- 
 
 ond oldest lawyer in practice in the town. 
 I'or eight years he has been a Justice of the 
 Peace and for many years a trustee of the 
 Union School. 
 
 Mr. Hinman was married in 1872 to Alice 
 ver Plank, who was born in Wright, a daugh- 
 ter of Alanson ver Plank and one of a family 
 group of five children. Of this union six 
 children were born^ as follows: Nellie M., 
 Douglas A., Herbert W., Mabel, Alice, and 
 C. Ford. Nellie M. , who is a graduate of 
 Vassar College, is the assistant principal of 
 the Union School. Douglas is a graduate of 
 the Albany Law School and a practising 
 lawyer in Berne, Albany County. Herbert 
 W. is in business with a florist in Saratoga 
 Springs. Mabel, who was educated at the 
 Young Ladies' Seminary at Binghamton, is 
 now in Europe. Alice is a student in the 
 Union School, Schoharie. C. Ford Hinman 
 is studying law in his father's office. 
 
 Mr. Hinman is an Odd Fellow of To-wos- 
 scholer Lodge, No. 546. He is a member 
 and trustee of the Stock Growers' Associa- 
 tion. He has a general law practice, and also 
 acts as pension attorney. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. Mr. Hinman and his family are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and he is a trustee of the society. Both he 
 and his wife have been teachers in the Sun- 
 day-school. 
 
 Y^A GRAND I. TREADWELL, a pro- 
 
 IJ grcssive farmer and prominent citizen 
 
 ^"^ ^ of Jefferson, Schoharie County, 
 
 N.Y., was born in Harpersfield, 13elavvare 
 
JAMES T. WVATl'. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 367 
 
 County, this State, October 7, 1845, son of 
 James T. and Eliza A. (Buckingham) Tread- 
 well. 
 
 His father, James T. Treadwell, was a na- 
 tive of Harpersfield, N.Y., born August 6, 
 181 2. He was one of the leading men of his 
 town, where he held the office of Supervisor. 
 He was also a Colonel in the militia. A 
 stanch Republican in politics, he was a great 
 admirer of Lincoln, Grant, Seward, and other 
 great men of his party who liad jirovcd their 
 fitness for high place by the magnitude of 
 their services to their country. In religion 
 he was a Methodist and a prominent ofificer of 
 that church. His wife, Eliza, who was born 
 in Jefferson, Schoharie County, July 14, 
 181 1, was a daughter of Isaac and Sally Buck- 
 ingham, her father being a prosperous farmer. 
 She died in her native town, February 27, 
 1896, having survived her husband nearly 
 twenty-five years, he having passed away 
 April 26, 1871. Their children were: Orrin, 
 Sarah, Cassius, La Grand, and Addie. 
 
 La Grand I. Treadwell received a good dis- 
 trict-school education. He began early to ac- 
 quire a practical knowledge of agriculture, 
 and since his youth has been engaged in farm- 
 ing. His present farm of one hundred and 
 ten acres is well located, and, kept by him in 
 a high state of cultivation, it produces satis- 
 factory financial results. Mr. Treadwell is a 
 man of good business capacity, progressive in 
 his methods, an untiring worker, and thor- 
 oughly wide-awake to every opportunity for 
 the improvement t>f liis property. That he 
 stands high among his fellow-townsmen may 
 
 be inferred from the fact that he has been 
 called upon to serve them as Commissioner of 
 Highways and as Supervisor. He attends the 
 Methodist church. He belongs to the Ma- 
 sonic order, being a member of Lodge No. 
 554, F. & A. M., of Jefferson. 
 
 He married September 22, 1885, Miss Jean- 
 ette C. Grant, a native of Stamford, Delaware 
 County, N.Y., and a daughter of Alfred B. 
 and Maria A. (Davenport) Grant. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Treadwell are the parents of one child, 
 J. Logan Treadwell, who was born August 12, 
 1887. 
 
 's^JYAMES T. WYATT, ex-Supervisor of 
 Glenville and a veteran of the Civil 
 War, was born in Halifax, N. S., Octo- 
 ber 22, 1834, son of John F. and Charlotte 
 (Stewart) Wyatt. His father was a native of 
 New Jersey, and his mother of Nova Scotia. 
 
 John Wyatt, his grandfather, who was born 
 in Charleston, S. C, served in the Revolution- 
 ary War, and for some years was a planter in 
 his native State. Coming Nortii, John Wyatt 
 resided in New York State for a time, but his 
 last days were spent in Nova Scotia. The 
 tamily is of iMiglish origin. Probably its first 
 representative in this country was Sir I-'rancis 
 Wyatt, one of the early Colonial governors of 
 Virginia, the first term of his wise and pacific 
 administration beginning in October, 1621. 
 
 John I". Wyatt, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was a carjienter, and followed liis 
 trade during his active years. Moving from 
 Nova .Scotia to New York State, he resided in 
 Albany until going to Cattaraugus Comity; 
 
368 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 and he died in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, 
 at the age of eighty-three years. In politics 
 he was a Republican. His wife, Charlotte, 
 was the mother of seven chilthen, four of whom 
 are living, namel)' : John A. and James T. , 
 both residents of (llcnville; ICleanor, wife of 
 ,M. (1. Maitvii, of Jamestown; and William 
 II. W'yatt, of Akron, ()hio. The others were : 
 liliza C, Harriet, and .Xdilaidc. Mrs. Char- 
 lotte S. Wyatt died in Akron, Ohio, at the age 
 of .seven ty-si.\ years. In religious faith the 
 ]iarents were Episcopalians. 
 
 James T. Wyatt was reared in Albany and 
 educated in the schools of that city. When a 
 young man he entered the grocery business as 
 a clerk, and remained in that emplo\ment for 
 four years. In October, 1861, he enlisted as 
 a pri\ate in an independent organization known 
 as the Havelock Battery, which was raised in 
 Albany, and became attached to the Army of 
 the Potomac. He participated in some of the 
 most stubbornly contested engagements of the 
 Civil War, including the battle of Chancellors- 
 \ille, where he was wounded, and rose to the 
 rank i}f l''irst Lieutenant, being discharged as 
 such, Januarv 24, 1S65. The .State of New 
 \'ork gave him the rank ol Hrexet Major. Re- 
 turning to Albany, he in 1866 became travel- 
 ling salesman for Biu'ton & Co., dealers in 
 mouldings, jjicture frames, and similar wares, 
 and remained with that concern for eight years. 
 In 1877 lie bought his jiresent farm in Glen- 
 ville, containing one hunilred and forty-two 
 acres of desirable land situated in the beautiful 
 and fertile Mohawk \alU-y, one of the finest 
 agricultural regions in the State. lie displays 
 
 unusual practical ability and good judgment in 
 managing his jiroperty, which yields a good 
 income, the energy of its owner being visible 
 on every hand. 
 
 In |une, 1867, Mr. W\'att was united in 
 marriage with Aiuia M. Rectoi', who was born 
 in Glenvillc, May 25, 1835, daughter of Will- 
 iam Rector and a representative of an old fam- 
 ily of this town. 
 
 Politically, Mi'. \\'yatt is a Republican. 
 He served with ability as Supervisor during 
 the years 1882, 1883, 1884, and 1886. He is 
 a comrade of Horsfall Post, No. 90, (i. A. R., 
 of Schenectady. Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt have 
 no children. They attend the Episcojjal 
 church. 
 
 RNEST E. BILLINGS, M.D., the lead- 
 ing physician of Gilboa, Schoharie 
 County, N. Y., is a native of Broome, this 
 State. He was born on September 29, 1859, 
 to Peter L. and Amelia (Brayman) Billings. 
 His great-grandfather Billings came to this 
 place from Connecticut. He was of luiglish 
 ancestry. 
 
 The Doctor's paternal grandfather, JcjIui 
 Billings, lived and died in this count)', and 
 was a lifelong farmer. His children were as 
 follows: Thaddeus; Peter; Charles; William; 
 Emma, who is the wife of Lewis Brazee; 
 Ellen, who is the widow of Emerson Camp- 
 bell; and Luther, who died at the age of 
 twenty-one years. Charles and William Bill- 
 ings both reside in this county. 
 
 Peter Billings during the greater part of his 
 active life was engaged in farming at Broome, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 369 
 
 but he lived for a time in Greene County. 
 Politically, he was a stanch Republican. For 
 a number of years he was Poormaster. He 
 was a member of the oUl school Baptist 
 church and one of its most zealous upholders. 
 His four children were: Ernest E. and Erwin 
 B., twins; Anna, who married Albert Palmer; 
 and Burton, who died at the age of twenty- 
 three years. 
 
 Ernest E. Billings during his boyhood at- 
 tended school at Broome and subsequently at 
 Rensselaerville Academy. In his early years 
 he had access to a well-selected library, wliich 
 probably in a measure determined the course 
 of his later life. This library consisted 
 largely of works of science and history. It 
 had been accumulated by his maternal grand- 
 father, Benjamin Brayman, who resided in 
 Broome. Mr. Brayman was a genuine lover 
 of books. Not a volume on his shelves but 
 was one of value and standing, and not one 
 that he had not read and digested. His mem- 
 ory for facts was wonderful, and no one here- 
 abouts could equal him in extent of knowl- 
 edge. He was extremely logical, and could 
 floor any one in an argument. Withal, he was 
 a successful man of affairs. At that time, 
 when gootl books, or indeed books of any sort, 
 were difficult to get, his library unquestion- 
 ably exerted a great influence in moulding the 
 future of his grandson. 
 
 After leaving school Ernest E. Billings 
 taught for four or five terms, as also his twin 
 brother, who subsequently obtained a State 
 certificate. P'rom boyhood it had been his 
 ambition to be a physician, and accordingly, 
 
 as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he 
 began the study of medicine with his uncle, 
 Dr. E. Brayman, of Livingstonville. After 
 a year spent there he entered the medical de- 
 partment of the University of the City of New 
 York in 1881, and in 1884 he was graduated 
 at that institution with the coveted degree of 
 Doctor of Medicine. While there he showed 
 especial proficiency in mathematics and in 
 microscopy. He was one of two to receive a 
 certificate in the latter study. He immedi- 
 ately began the practice of his profession in 
 Conesville, where he remained until October 
 5, 1887. Since that time he has been settled 
 in Gilboa. The Doctor still has more or less 
 practice in Conesville, and, in fact, in the 
 four counties of Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, 
 and Albany. His calmness at all times and 
 his sympathy in the sick-room fortify him for 
 attendance on the most serious or critical 
 cases, and his warm heart and generous ex- 
 pression of feeling win for him the lasting 
 gratitude of his patients and their friends. 
 He has made a special study of the diseases of 
 women and children. 
 
 Politically, the Doctor is a Republican. 
 He was Town Clerk in Broome in 1883, and 
 is at the present time Health Officer of Gil- 
 boa. Since iSgo he has been a member of 
 the Dutch Reformed church. P^ir two years 
 he was a Deacon in the church, and for the 
 last three years has been Elder. He is a 
 Mason of Gilboa Lodge, No. 630, and at the 
 present time secretary of the lodge. Profes- 
 sionally, he is a member of the Schoharie 
 County Medical Society. He is one of the 
 
37° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 stockholders in the weekly paper jniblished at 
 Gilboa. 
 
 Dr. Joinings married Carrie Richtmyer, 
 daughter of I'cter Richtmyer and descendant 
 of one of the old and honored families of this 
 vicinity. They have one child, Ernestine. 
 
 ACA''/ ll.I-IAM W. CHAPMAN, a prac- 
 tical and pmspi.-rous agriculturist of 
 JMiUcn, Schoharie County, was born on the 
 farm where he now resides, known as the 
 Chajiman homestead, November 14, 1846, a 
 son of Jacob Chapman. His great-grand- 
 father Chapman was one of the very early set- 
 tlers of Columbia County, New York, where 
 he owned an extensive tract of land and 
 about sixty slaves. 
 
 William Chapman, the grandfather of Will- 
 iam W., was born and educated in Columbia 
 County, but afterward became a pioneer of 
 Albany County, whither he removed with his 
 family at an early day. He also was a slave- 
 holder, and before his death, which occurred 
 when he was but forty-seven years old, he had 
 cleared a large farm, and had come to hold an 
 important position among the influential men 
 of the town of Rensselaerville, iti which he 
 had settled. His wife, whose maiden name 
 was Eva .Solpaugh, dietl at the age of seventy- 
 five years, after rearing a number of children. 
 In religion they were both of the Hajitist per- 
 suasion. 
 
 Jacob Cha])maii was born in Rensselaer- 
 ville, Albany County, where he resided until 
 twenty-seven years old. Coming then to 
 
 Schoharie County, he purchased one hundred 
 acres of woodland, on which almost the only 
 improvement visible was a small log house 
 that occupied the site of the present substan- 
 tial dwelling on the Chapman homestead, the 
 house subsequently erected by him. He 
 cleared a large part of the land he first pur- 
 chased, and, having bought another lot of forty 
 acres, carried on general farming and stock- 
 raising with great success until his death, at 
 the venerable age of eighty-seven years. In 
 politics he was a Jacksonian Democrat, and 
 served one or more terms as Overseer of the 
 Poor. His wife, Huldah Winans, was the 
 daughter of Klder John Winans, for many 
 years a Baptist minister at Preston Hollow, 
 Albany County, where she was born anil bred. 
 They had eleven children, eight of whom are 
 living, as follows: Spenci.'r, a farmer residing 
 near the old homestead; Nancy C, wife of 
 Chauncey Shattuck; Adam M., a farmer at 
 Bouck's Falls; Maria, widow of the late 
 Almon Mann; Isabella, wife of Hiram P'cker- 
 son; Klizaheth, widow of the late Dr. George 
 Holmes; James P., former .Supervisor of Mid- 
 dleburg; and William W., the special subject 
 of this sketch. The mother also attained a 
 good old age, passing away at the age of four- 
 score and four years. Both parents were 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 in which the father served long and faithfully 
 as steward and class leader. Their son Peter, 
 who was graduated from the Normal School, 
 and afterward attended private lectures and 
 the Philadelphia Meilica! College, went West 
 when a young man, and, settling in Iowa, was 
 
liAKNARL) olIARA. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 373 
 
 there engaged first as a teacher and later as a 
 physician. He subsequently lived in Ne- 
 braska, and for six years was School Commis- 
 sioner in Lincoln. Returning to Schoharie 
 County, he practised medicine in Richmond- 
 ville for si.x years, going from there to New 
 Me.xico, where he had a lucrative position in 
 a government land office until his death, at the 
 age of forty-nine years. 
 
 William \V. Chapman succeeded to the 
 ownership of the home farm of one iiundred 
 and fort}' acres, on which he has spent his 
 entire life, being known throughout the com- 
 munity as one of its most skilful and thrifty 
 farmers. Enei'getic and inihistrious, and well 
 versed in the science of agriculture, he is 
 meeting with well-merited success in his 
 chosen vocation. In addition to raising the 
 crops common to this region, he carries on to 
 some extent dairying and the raising of 
 draught horses, in which he has been some- 
 wiiat interested. A firm supporter of the 
 principles of the Democratic party, he takes 
 an active interest in local affairs. He has 
 served on both the Town and the County Com- 
 mittee and in 1891, 1892, 1S93, and 1894 he 
 was .Supervisor, having been elected and sub- 
 sequently re-elected three consecutive years 
 by a large majority. 
 
 On November 21, 1877, Mr. Chapman mar- 
 ried Emma Zeh, who was born in Middleburg, 
 a daughter of Philip Zeh, a farmer. She died 
 at the age of thirty-one years. .She was a de- 
 voted member of the Reformed church. On 
 December 29, 1886, Mr. Chapman married for 
 his second wife Miss Keziah Hilts, who was 
 
 born in Fulton, a daughter of Gideon D. and 
 Elizabeth (Zeh) Hilts. Her father, a native 
 of Wright, removed to Fulton when but six- 
 teen years of age, and from that time until his 
 decease, at the age of sixty-three years, was 
 engaged as a tiller of the soil. He affiliated 
 with the Democrats, and was active in public 
 life, serving as School Commissioner in his 
 district and as Supervisor of the town a num- 
 ber of years. His wife, Elizabeth, who was 
 born in Middleburg, died in Fulton in i8gi. 
 I5oth were active members of the Reformed 
 church. Of their eleven children five are 
 still living, namely: George, who was gradu- 
 ated from Claverack College, and now resides 
 in New York City: Jennie, who married Mar- 
 cus Zeh; Jay; Keziah, now Mrs. Cliapman ; 
 and Elizabeth. Mrs. Chapman is a graduate 
 of the Albany Normal School, and has had 
 considerable experience as a teacher, having 
 taught in her native j^lace and for two years in 
 the Ulster Academy. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman 
 have two children — Leo H. and Alice Irene. 
 
 ARNARD O'HARA, proprietor of 
 the O'Hara House, Lexington, 
 Greene County, N.Y. , was born in 
 Fishkill, Dutchess County, this State, June i, 
 1816, son of Peter and Lucretia (Darbee) 
 O'Hara. His father emigrated from Ireland 
 in 1801, first locating in New York City and 
 later in P"ishkill, where he worked by the 
 month on a farm. Peter O'Hara was subse- 
 quently engaged in farming in Westfield Flats, 
 Sullivan County, and in Greenville village. 
 
374 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 His first purchase was a small ])iece of land, 
 which he later sold. He finally bought a 
 tract of forty acres situated on the Durham 
 line, where lie resided for the rest of his active 
 pei'iod. By his industry and thrift he was 
 enabled to increase his jjroperty by Ihc ]iur- 
 chase of adjoinint,' land, owning at the time of 
 his death, which occurred at the age of eighty 
 years, a farm of two hundred acres. He was a 
 capable farmer, ]iossessing excellent judgment 
 in all agricultural matters, which enabled him 
 to make good use of his resources and oppor- 
 tunities. Besides the raising and selling of 
 farm produce, he distilleil apple brandy, an 
 agreeable and somewhat seductive beverage, 
 known to residents of the present day under 
 the more familiar name of ajiple-jack. He 
 was also a weaver of great renown. Beter 
 O'Hara was a Democrat in imlitics, and took a 
 lively interest in local public affairs, serving 
 frequently as a grand juror at Catskill and 
 holding minor town offices. In his religious 
 belief he was a Roman Catholic and so true a 
 followiM' of the prece|)ts of the church that tm 
 one occasion he carried a child from l-"ishkill 
 to Troy and thence to Lansingburg in order 
 to have it baptized by a Catholic priest. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Lucretia Dar- 
 bee, was a native of Goshen, Orange County, 
 to whiiii tnwn her parents had removed from 
 Goshen, Conn., settling as pioneers. Her 
 father was a farmer and a cloth dresser for 
 some years. Later he kept a ta\ern in West- 
 field Flats. He was killed by the overturning 
 of a Iliad of hay. I'eter and Lucretia (Darbee) 
 O'Hara had fifteen children, of whom si.\ sons 
 
 and seven daughters lived to have families; 
 and si.\ of the daughters were school teachers 
 ]5revious to their marriage. The only sur- 
 vivors are : Barnard, the subject of this sketch ; 
 and I.e\i, who still resides ujion a ])ortion of 
 the iild homestead, which, after the father's 
 death, was divided into four farms. The 
 mother died at the age of si.xty-four. .She at- 
 tended the Methodist Episcojial church. 
 
 Barnard O'Hara in his boyhood and \outh, 
 from the time he was able to be of use, worked 
 on the home farm during the farming seasons, 
 and attended school winters. 
 
 Leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he 
 went to Alban)', N.V. , where he obtained em- 
 ployment in a tlry and fancy goods store. His 
 em])loyer failed a short time later, antl he 
 made an arrangement with the assignee to 
 ].iecklle the stock upon the road. After driving 
 through Central New York with a horse and 
 wagon in the employ of others for some time, 
 he invested what money he had saved in a team 
 of his own; and, borrowing the sum of three 
 hundred dollars of his fathei', he engaged in 
 peddling for himself, soon establishing his 
 credit in New York City by punctually meet- 
 ing his obligations. After continuing upon 
 the road some years, or until 1S45, he settled 
 in Lexington, where in the following year he 
 completed the building of a store, which he 
 stocked with general merchandise, and carried 
 it on successfully for over thirty years. For a 
 long period he was also engaged in the under- 
 taking business. 
 
 .After visiting some of the Western .States 
 he returned, feeling certain tliat his future 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 375 
 
 prospects were just as promising in Lexington 
 as elsewhere. The succeeding ten years were 
 devoted to the management of his store and 
 to the cultivation of his farm, which he pur- 
 chased in 1865, and which he still owns. 
 
 In 1880, having admitted his son as a part- 
 ner, he severed his active connection vvith the 
 mercantile business. The son continued in 
 charge of the establishment until 18S8, since 
 which time the store building has been leased 
 to others. 
 
 The O'Hara House stands upon a site for- 
 merly occupied by a Baptist church. It was 
 completed and opened in 1877, and is one of 
 the largest hotels in Lexington, having accom- 
 modations for one hundred and twenty-five 
 guests. Situated at an altitude of sixteen 
 hundred feet above sea level, and provided 
 vvith ample facilities for comfort and recrea- 
 tion, it offers special inducements as a health 
 resort. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. O'Hara was united in marriage 
 with Miss Charlotte IJriggs, daughter of Da- 
 rius Briggs, a well-known farmer of Lexington 
 in his day. She became the mother of seven 
 children; namely, Mary A., Edgar B. , 
 George P., Arthur, Arrietta, Ida, and Belle. 
 Mary A. is the wife of James M. Van X'alken- 
 burgh, a hotel proprietor of Lexington, and has 
 one son, George B. Van Valkenburgh, who is 
 a college graduate. Edgar and George assist 
 their father in carrying on the O'Hara House. 
 Edgar also carries on a thriving business in 
 the manufacture of cider. George O'Hara 
 married Mary Smith, antl has two children — 
 Charlotte and Edgar L. Arthur O'Hara died 
 
 at the age of two years. Arrietta died in 1876 
 at the age of twenty-one \ears. Ida married 
 I'eter J. Kelley, who is now a resident of New 
 York City. Belle is residing at home. Edgar 
 is a graduate of Manhattan College, New York, 
 and of Eastman's Business College, Pough- 
 keepsie ; and George took a commercial course 
 at P'olsom's Business College. The daughters 
 attended "Kenwood," a Catholic school in Al- 
 bany. In politics Mr. O'Hara is a Democrat. 
 He served as Supervisor in i S69 and 1870, re- 
 ceiving at his re-election the unanimous sup- 
 port of both the Republican and Democratic 
 parties. He has been Clerk of the town and of 
 the school district, and has frequent 1}- served 
 as a grand and petit juror. Mrs. O'Hara died 
 in December, 1880, aged fifty-four years. 
 The family attend the Roman Catholic 
 church. 
 
 (sTrOEL H. MEAD, M.D., Hunter's vet- 
 eran physician and surgeon, residing on 
 Main Street in that town, was born in 
 Jewett on June 15, 1S38, his parents being- 
 Stephen and Caroline (Hosford) Mead. The 
 family is of English descent, and early settled 
 in Columbia County, New York, among the 
 pioneers of that region. 
 
 Philip Mead, the Doctor's grandfather, was 
 one of the first settlers in Jewett, coming to 
 that town by a route marked with trees, and in 
 company with two or three other )'oung men 
 settling in the heart of the forest to make a 
 home for himself. His first dwelling was a 
 rude log hut, but after he had made a clearing- 
 he erected a handsome frame house. The near- 
 
376 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 est town, Cairo, was ten miles distant, anil al 
 supplies hail to be brought frnni that jilace. 
 Bears and dtlier wikl animals were abundant, 
 and fearlessly prowled near the little eabiii. 
 After eighteen years spent in Jewett, during 
 which he had cleared a large tract of land, he 
 removed to Cayuga County, then JList being 
 opened U]). There he remained until his 
 death, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, 
 Hannah, died at the age of eighty. ]5(ith were 
 members of the Hajitist church. Mrs. Hannah 
 Mead was born in Columbia County, of parents 
 who were pioneer settlers there. .She had 
 twelve children, all of whnm are now deceased. 
 Ste[jhen Mead was burn in Columbia 
 County, but the greater part of his life was 
 spent in Jewett, where he i)urchased a farm in 
 early manhooil. In national politics he was a 
 Republican. He took a warm interest in local 
 public affaiis, and held several minor fiffices in 
 the town. His death occiu'red at the agent 
 eighty-si.x. His wife was born in jewett, 
 being a daughter of Joel Hosfcird, who married 
 a Miss Mann. Her father was one <if three 
 brothers who came from the town of W'al ling- 
 ford, Conn., to settle the town of Jewett. One 
 of the brothers was named Reuben. They 
 were pioneers of Jewett Heights. The Mann 
 famil)- was (ine o{ the first to settle on Man- 
 hattan Island, coming over from Holland. 
 Mrs. Caroline Hosfnrd Mead died at the age of 
 sixty-seven. Hoth she and her husband were 
 members of the Methodist church. One of 
 their four children, a son, Alanson, is de- 
 ceased. The living are: Dr. William 11., 
 who is practising" in Windham (see sketch on 
 
 another page) ; iJr. Joel II. ; and .\deline, 
 who is the wife of Alanson Woodworth. 
 
 After leaving the common schools Joel H. 
 Mead studied medicine for a time with Dr. 
 F. H. Holcomb, of Windham, antl then took a 
 course in medicine in the Albany Medical Col- 
 lege, from which he was graduated in 1863. 
 He at once began ])ractice in Hunter, and in a 
 short time hail as many jiatientsas he could 
 care for. l^esides his general medical practice 
 Dr. Mead has gi\-en considerable attention to 
 surgery, and has performed some remarkable 
 operations. l-'or twenty years he was the only 
 physician in this and several of the adjoining 
 towns. He is to-day one of the oldest ])racti- 
 tioncrs in tlie count)', there being onl\' four 
 physicians whose professional career antedates 
 his. He is the Nestor of the medical frater- 
 nity hereabouts. 
 
 In 1866 Dr. Mead married I.ucinda Wood- 
 worth, daughter of Abner and Sojihronia (Juil- 
 son) Woodwoith. Her father, who was a 
 farmei' and one of the earl\- settlers of Jewett, 
 died at the age of seventy-eight. Her mother 
 died at forty-si.x. Their si.x children were; 
 Laura, who married Albert Chase, a son of 
 Judge Chase of the Supreme Court; lUiel ; 
 Lucius, a sketch of whom ap[5ears elsewhere in 
 this hook; Lemuel, who died at the age of 
 twenty; Loren, who is deceased; and Mrs. 
 Mead. The Doctor and his wife luu'e been 
 blessed with two childrjn — Ldith and Hertha, 
 the last named of whom resiiles with her par- 
 ents, lulith married R. A. Austin, a drug- 
 gist of Cairo, and has one child, Joel b}- name. 
 The daughters received their finisliinij- eiliica- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 377 
 
 tion in a private school. Both are fine per- 
 formers on the organ and piano. 
 
 Tiie Doctor takes a warm interest in all [nib- 
 lic matters, and gives the weight of his politi- 
 cal influence to the Republican party. In 1887 
 he filled the office of Supervisor. He is a 
 Master Mason and member of Mount Tailor 
 Lodge of Hunter. He was a promoter, ftom 
 the start, of the Maplevvoocl Cemetery organi- 
 zation, and has always been one of its active 
 supporters. In connection with Ur. Stanley 
 he is pension examiner for Greene Count}', 
 holding the position under government ap- 
 pointment. He is now president of the Board 
 of Examiners. He has also been examiner for 
 several years for various life insurance com- 
 panies, among which may be named the 
 Phceni.x, the New York Life, the New York 
 Mutual, the Equitable, and the Washington. 
 The Doctor's famil\- are members of the Meth- 
 odist church. 
 
 TAyALLACE W. CRAPSER, a well- 
 '^*' known business man of the town of 
 Summit, .Schoharie County, residing at Char- 
 lotteville, was laorn in Jefferson, this State, 
 on April 12, 1843, his parents being Robert 
 and Rosetta (Gardner) Crapser. Hisjiaternal 
 grandfather, Albertus Crapser, who was of 
 Dutch lineage, died in Claverack at the age 
 of seventy. He was by occupation a farmer, 
 and in politics at first a Whig and later a Re- 
 publican. He had a family of five sons and 
 four daughters. 
 
 Robert Crapser, stni of Albertus antl father 
 
 of the subject of this biograph)', was born and 
 reared in Greenville, N. Y. , but moved to 
 Claverack in early manhood. He was first a 
 Whig in politics and later a Republican, and 
 was very active and influential in pulilic 
 affairs. When about sixty years of age he 
 was drowned while sailing on the Hudson as 
 a passenger aboard the Berkshire boat. In 
 early life he taught school for some time dur- 
 ing the winters, and worked at boating dur- 
 ing the summer.s. Later he gave all his time 
 to farming. At the age of thirty lie married 
 Rosetta, daughter of Andrew Gardner. She 
 is still living at the age of seventy-eiglit, and 
 makes her home with her son Wallace. The 
 father had at one time two hundred acix-s of 
 land under cultivation. He was a Justice of 
 the Peace for many years. His religious pref- 
 erences were Lutheran. He had only one 
 other child beside his son Wallace — namely, 
 Jesse, who was taken prisoner by the rebels at 
 the battle of (lettysburg, and who subse- 
 cjuently died from the hardships of his pri.son 
 life, being still under his majority at the time 
 of his death. 
 
 Wallace \V. Crapser received a good com- 
 mon-school training in Summit. He early 
 began farming, and engaged in that occujiation 
 until 1894, being located about a mile above 
 the village of Charlotteville on a farm of a 
 hundred acres, and giving special attention to 
 dairying. On the ist of April, 1897, he 
 practically retired from business. Mr. Crap- 
 ser is one of the valued workers of the Meth- 
 odist church, with which he has been connected 
 for the last twenty years. He is a trustee and 
 
378 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 steward of the church, also class leader; 
 and for throe years he was sii]5erintendcnt of 
 the Sunday-school. In politics he is a Repub- 
 lican, but he has never sought office, though 
 warmly interested in the success of liis [jarty. 
 Mr. Crapser was first married to Mary J. 
 W'hortnn. She died in 1.S91, having been the 
 nidthei- of two cliildren, namely: Albert, who 
 died at two \ears of iigc ; anti Charles, who re- 
 sides with his father. Mr. Cra]3ser married 
 for his second wife Mis. Mar\- IMulter Dorwin, 
 the widow of Philip Dorwin. Her former 
 husband was a lawyer and a leading citizen of 
 South Worcester, also a prominent Demo- 
 cratic worker. She is a daughter of J. D. 
 Multer, a very successful chiiry farmei" of this 
 region ant! a strong Republican and active 
 Methodist. Mrs. Crapser has four sisters, 
 namely: Martha, who is the wife of James 
 I"o.\ ; Alice, who is the wife of Thomas Spang- 
 ler; I'di/.abeth, who is Mrs. Bulson ; and 
 Rose, who is Mrs. Cahin liutts. Mrs. Crap- 
 ser taught school for snrne time before her mar- 
 riage. She is a member of the W. C. T. U. 
 and one of the acti\e workers in the church. 
 Mr. Crapser h;is alwa\s been (ipposetl to the 
 li(|Ui>i' traffic, and is exceedingly temperate in 
 al I his habits. 
 
 (S 
 
 ^yuwARi) h:Ar()N lomax, m.d., 
 
 the leading i)h\sici;ui of New Halti- 
 -' more, (ireene Count\', \'.\'., is a 
 native of the city of Albany, and was born on 
 April 30, 1S68, son nf Jnbn and Martha 
 (Iviton) Lomax. On the ])aternal side he is 
 
 descended from French Protestants, or Hugue- 
 nots, who, after the revocation of the Kdict of 
 Nantes in 16S5, fled from persecution in their 
 native country to iMigland. 
 
 The Doctor's paternal gr;uidfather emigrated 
 from haigland some time after his marriage, 
 and, settling in Boston, Mass., there engaged 
 in the manufacture of soap and tallow candles. 
 His sou John was born in England, but was 
 brought up in Boston, and learned the harness- 
 maker's trade in that city. Nearl\- forty _\-ears 
 ago John Lomax, the Doctor's father, took a 
 position with Holland Terrell, the well-known 
 harness manufacturer of Albany, anil is now 
 foreman of the establishment, which is said to 
 be the largest of its kiiul in tlie world. He is 
 an active Republican, and he takes a warm 
 interest in all M:isonic affairs. Among the 
 Masonic offices he has held may be named the 
 following: Master of Mount \'ernon Lodge, 
 F. & A. M., in 1.S70; secretary of the same 
 for fourteen years; director in the Masonic 
 Relief Association of Alban}', and one ol its 
 trustees for fifteen years; ami secretary of the 
 Masonic X'eteran Association for three years. 
 His wife, Martha, was born in Chelsea, Mass. 
 She is a member of the Lpiscopal church. Ot 
 their eight children five are living — Llla, 
 Hattie, l-'annie, Howard V.., and lulith. Llla 
 is the wife of Harry Knight, of Denver, Col. ; 
 Hattie is the wife of C. W. I'"oinian, of ^'ork- 
 town, N.\'. ; b'annieis Mrs. C'harles .A. Pray, 
 of Lelianoii, Me. ; and lulilh is principal of 
 the Albany Training .School for leachers. 
 
 Dr. Loma.x was graduated from the .Mhany 
 High School in iSSS. He subsi'quciit !)■ en- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 379 
 
 gaged as a draughtsman in New Ydik City for 
 a year with Gillani, the celebrated cartoonist 
 of Judge. He then entered the Albany Medi- 
 cal College, from which he was graduated in 
 1892, and he has since been engaged in the 
 practice of his profession in this town. Dur- 
 ing his first year in the high school he was 
 awarded a gold medal for excellence in draw- 
 ing, being the first bo\' and tlie first Freshman 
 to receive a medal in the history of that school. 
 He still retains much of his early skill with 
 the pencil. The Doctor's course in the medi- 
 cal college was one of distinction. He won 
 two prizes, and at graduation received honor- 
 able mention in three subjects. Since coming 
 here he has built up the largest practice the 
 town has ever known, and is as popular as he 
 is successful. He has been three times vice- 
 president of the Greene County Medical So- 
 ciety, and has written numerous papers and 
 addresses on medical subjects, and some 
 articles for publication in medical journals. 
 He is a devoted student of natural history, and 
 has a fine entomological collection, also an 
 interesting collection of snakes and serpents. 
 
 Dr. Lomax is a fine .singer and a skilful per- 
 former on the ])iano, organ, and flute. He 
 began playing the flute in early boyhood, under 
 the instruction of his father, who was a fine 
 flutist and a member of Gilniore's celebrated 
 band when first it was organized. When a boy 
 of only sixteen the Doctor was in demand for 
 orchestras. As he became older his musical 
 ability was of great service to him, enabling 
 him to ]3ay his college expenses. For two 
 seasons he performed on (jne of the tlay boats 
 
 running from Albany, and in the evenings 
 played in the orchestra at the Leland Opera 
 House. For two seasons he was at .Saratoga in 
 the orchestra and for two seasons at the Pros- 
 pect Park House in the Catskills. He has 
 ])layed under all the leading conductors of 
 Albany, and is well known among the musi- 
 cians of that city. 
 
 Like his father. Dr. Lomax is interested in 
 masonry. He is now serving his second term 
 as Master of Social Friendship Lodge, No. 
 741, of New Baltimore, and has held various 
 other offices in the lodge, among them that of 
 Senior Deacon. Li politics he is a Republi- 
 can. P'or the last four years he has been one 
 of the health officers of the town. He is a 
 Deacon in the Dutch Reformed church, of 
 which both he and his wife are members, and 
 Mrs. Lomax has played the organ for both 
 church and Sunday-school. 
 
 The Doctor's marriage took ]ilace in Sep- 
 tember, 1S97. Mrs Lomax is the daughter of 
 Newton Sweet, a leading citizen of New Balti- 
 more. Her grandfather, Joshua Sweet, who 
 was born in Chesterville, Albany County, was 
 u carpenter by trade. He worked on the old 
 Catskill Mountain House, and later came to 
 New Baltimore and engaged in contracting and 
 building until his death, at the age of sixty- 
 eight. His wife, Laura Baker, died at the age 
 of seventy-four. She was one of the eight 
 children of an Englishman who came with his 
 family from Fngland to I'hilatlelphia, from 
 there by stage to New York, thence u|) the 
 Hudson to Albanv, and thence by stage to 
 Coeymans. He engaged in mercantile life in 
 
38o 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAI. REVIEW 
 
 New York City, and there fell a \'ictiiii to 
 small-piix. Jii.shua and Laura Sweet were the 
 ]xirents of three children: Frank; Newton; and 
 Lama, who married Watson Ham. 
 
 Newton Sweet was born in this town on De- 
 cember iT), iX4iS. After attendint; Coeymans 
 Academy foi- four years, he l)ei;an teaching 
 school winters and working;- at carpenteriiii;- 
 summers. 'I'his he continued till twent3'-four 
 years of age, when he left off his tratle and 
 thenceforward kept at his [)rofessional work 
 all the year. lie taught succcssivel)- in the 
 graded school at the Iron Works, Tro)-, where 
 he remained ti\e \ears ; in the graded school in 
 Coevmans ; in New ]?altimore for a _\-ear; and 
 then, ill the year 1893-94, in West Co.xsackie. 
 While at New Baltimore he was elected Super- 
 visor for i.S.S/ oil the Republican ticket. 
 Tin- Idlliiwing year he was elected .School 
 Commissioner from the .Second District of 
 Greene Coimt\-, wliich included the towns of 
 New Haltimore, Coxsackie, tlreenville, Dur- 
 ham, Ashland, Windham, and I'rattsvi I Ic. 
 lie had eighty schools lo look after and a 
 hundreil teachers to examine, and nuist visit 
 each school twice a year. After serving three 
 years he was re-elected for a sec<ind term, at 
 the close of which he began teaching in West 
 Coxsackie. At the end of a year there he was 
 secured for the New Haltimore school, but 
 while attending a teachers' institute in Cairo, 
 where the Republican convention was in ses- 
 sion, he was ntjminated for the Assembly. 
 He was triumphantly elected by a majority of 
 four hundred, going ninety ballots ahead of the 
 ticket in this town, and being the third Super- 
 
 vi.sor ever elected on the Rei)ublican ticket in 
 this Democratic stronghokl. He voted for the 
 Raines Bill, and in 1897 was re-elected hy a 
 majority of live hundred and fifty. During 
 his two terms he rendered his constituents 
 valuable service. He introduced a bill to pro- 
 hibit vivisection in the ])ul)lic schools, ami 
 ser\ed on \'arious educational committees. 
 
 Mr. .Sweet has resided in New Haltimore 
 \illage for the last eighteen years. He is 
 prominent in Masonic circles and in the 
 Knights of l'\tliias. His wife, Adelaide, was 
 born in Coeymans, the danghtei- of I'hilipand 
 Jane (\'an .Allen) Winne. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sweet lia\c five chikli'cn I-'rank, Jane (Mrs. 
 Lamox), Laura, Isaac, and .\iba. l-'rank is 
 the foreman of Cushman's bakei}' in New York 
 City. He married Marietta \'anderpool, 
 daughter of Dr. A. V. S. \'anderpool, of this 
 town. Isaac has been for tlie List three \'ears 
 ipiaitermaster on the "Dean Richmond." 
 Arba is preparing to be a locomoti\e engineer. 
 
 Mrs. Lomax taught school in New ]5altimore 
 with most flattering success for some time 
 before her marriage. .She is a fine musician. 
 The Doctor and his wife liave one s(ni, Ld- 
 mund W. Lomax. 
 
 ILLIAM L. THORrb;, of Cat.skill, 
 **V N.V., member of the tinn of Mal- 
 colm & Co., was born in Conesville, .Schoharie 
 County, on November 15, 1869, his parents 
 being Douglass and Catherine H. (Ingraham) 
 Thorpe. His paternal grandfather, Amos 
 Thorpe, was born in the town of Hroome, 
 
WILLIAM E. THORPE. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 383 
 
 Schoharie County. Me was a blacksmith by 
 trade, and worked at that occupation all his 
 life. He also did some farming. The death 
 of Amos Thorpe took place in Conesville. 
 
 Douglass Thorpe was born in Conesville on 
 March g, 1832. He worked somewhat in the 
 smithy with his father, but when about nine- 
 teen years of age began learning the carpen- 
 ter's trade. Subsequentl)' he went to Dy- 
 berry Falls, Pa., to assist in putting up a 
 tannery, and after it was completed he re- 
 turned to Conesville and settled on a farm. 
 While there he was twice Supervisor of the 
 town. In 1 88 1 he came to Catskill, and for 
 the two .succeeding years was in the grocery 
 business in company with a Mr. Bassett, 
 under the firm name of Bassett & Thorpe. 
 Upon his retirement from business he was 
 made Superintendent of Streets, which ofifice he 
 filled for two years. More recently he has 
 been in poor health. He is a trustee of the 
 Methodist church, anil both he and his wife 
 are members of it. 
 
 Mrs. Catherine H. Thorpe was born in Dur- 
 ham, and spent her life there until she was 
 eighteen, when she removed to Conesville. 
 She taught school from the time she was fif- 
 teen years old rmtil she was married, at 
 twenty-two. She has been the mother of two 
 children — William E. and George N., the 
 last-named of whom resides on a farm in 
 Conesville. Mrs. Thorpe's father was Ezra 
 Ingraham, son of William and Hester (Doty) 
 Ingraham. Her mother was Charlotte Newell, 
 daughter of Seth Newell, a soldier of the War 
 of iiSi2, who contracted disease while in the 
 
 service and died from its effects. William 
 Ingraham, her grandfather, was born in Say- 
 brook, Conn. He came to Durham among the 
 early settlers, and had a grant of a small farm, 
 but worked most of the time at his trade, which 
 was that of a cooper. He died at the age of 
 eighty. His wife, Hester, who was born in 
 Saybrook, Conn., died at fifty-five. William 
 and Hester (Doty) Ingraham had ten children, 
 all of whom are now deceased. Their son Ezra 
 was born in Durham. He was a shoemaker by 
 trade, but much of his life was spent on a farm 
 in Conesville, where he died at the age of 
 fifty-six. His wife, who died at the age of 
 eighty-two, bore him three children, of whom 
 only Catherine (Mrs. Thorpe) is living. 
 
 William E. Thorpe attended school in 
 Conesville until he was about twelve years 
 old, when the family removed to Catskill. 
 Here he entered the high school. At seven- 
 teen he had finished his studies, and entered 
 the employ of Smith & Forshew, dry goods 
 merchants, with whom he remained for a year. 
 At the end of that time he took a position as 
 book-keeper with Van Brocklin & Co. in the 
 Catskill Knitting Mill. When, nine years 
 later, Mr. Van Brocklin retired and the Mal- 
 colm Company was formed, Mr. Thorpe took 
 an interest in the business, this being in Jan- 
 uary, 1897. The annual output "of this mill is 
 valued at between two hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand and three hundred thousand dollars. 
 Woollen underwear is manufactured, also 
 men's dress shirts. This firm is one of the 
 pioneer concerns in the making of fleece- lined 
 goods. That its product bears a solid reiuita- 
 
384 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIKW 
 
 tinii in the markcl ma)- be gathered from tlie 
 fact that (hiriiiL;' all the recent business dejires- 
 sion the mill has been running steadily and 
 often over lunirs. Sales are made through the 
 company's agents tlirect to the jobbing trade, 
 and there is not a State in the Union that does 
 not jnuchase goods of Malcolm & ("o. One 
 noticeable thing in the history of this business 
 has been the cordial feeling between the em- 
 ployers and the workmen. Mr. Thorpe began 
 work in the oflfice at six dollars a week, and 
 had his salary increased from time to time 
 until it reached twenty-four dollars a week, 
 lie forms a striking examjile of what can be 
 accomplished by faithfulness and api)lication. 
 In March, 1898, Mr. Thorpe was chosen 
 Trustee of Catskill and after one year Presi- 
 dent of the village. His politics are Republi- 
 can. He is a member of Catskill Lodge of 
 Masons, No. 468, and its organist; a charter 
 member of the Catskill Royal Arch Chapter; 
 member of the Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge 
 No. 189, in which he has occupied the Noble 
 Grand's chair; and also a member of the Rip 
 Van Winkle Club. Lor two years he was a 
 choir leader in the Methodist church, but he 
 now holils membership in the Reformed 
 church. I'"or five years he was a member of the 
 Sixteenth Separate Company, N. G. S. N. Y. , 
 and for two years, or until his discharge, a 
 member of the l-Mrst Ambulance Cor|)s. He 
 has always shown a warm interest in the fire 
 department, and is at the present time president 
 of W'iley Hose Company and vice-president of 
 the Hudson River Volunteer JMremen's Asso- 
 ciation. He is a singer of unusual merit, and 
 
 has sung on man\' public occasions. While in 
 the employ of Mr. \'an Hrncklin, Mr. Thorpe 
 was the recipient of many handsome presents, 
 being remembered most generously on each 
 recurring Christmas. 
 
 ENJAMIN F. ANh WILLIAM C. 
 PL.XTNLR. of PrattsviUe, N.Y., 
 are sons of Cornelius and Laura 
 (Parmentier) Platner. Their paternal grand- 
 father was a native and lifelong resident of 
 Hudson, \.\'. 
 
 Cornelius Piatner was born in PrattsviUe in 
 t'ebruary, iSji. He learned the trade of 
 hatter, which he followed here for many 
 years, first as a journeyman and later in com- 
 pany with Theodore Rudoljjh, as a member of 
 the firm of Platner & Rudoljili. Their sho|) 
 was at one time destroyed by a Hood, but they 
 rebuilt it, and subsecjuently continued the 
 business. Their partnership being finally 
 dissolved, Mr. Platner opened a restaurant in 
 the building now occupied by his sons, and 
 carried it on for some time. He held quite a 
 prominent position in the community, took an 
 active interest in town affairs, and served sev- 
 eral years as Deputy Sheriff. He was also 
 active in military matters, and was connected 
 with the militia in the early training days. 
 In ]M)litics he was a Democrat. 
 
 His wife, Laura, was a native of Tanners- 
 ville, N. v., and a daughter of Winthrop Par- 
 mentier. Their family consisted of ten chil- 
 dren, ot whiim six are now living, five being 
 resiilents of I'rvittsville ; namely, Charles IL, 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 38s 
 
 Chester A., Joseph E. , Benjamin F., and 
 \Villiam C. Charles H. Platner is the pro- 
 prietor of a general store in Prattsviile. 
 Chester A. is engaged in the feed business, 
 and has also a large interest in the Stanley 
 Hall farm of five hundred acres. He keeps 
 one hundred cows, and deals largely in cattle, 
 besides having other extensive business in- 
 terests. Joseph K. is a druggist in Pratts- 
 viile. Gustavus A. is a farmer residing near 
 Ashland. Mrs. Laura Parmentier Platner 
 died in 1895, at the age of seventy years. 
 
 Benjamin V. and William C. Platner were 
 educated in the [Hiblic schools of the village, 
 and have always resided here. They formed 
 their copartnership February i, 1SS5, both 
 having had some previous experience as 
 clerks. They have since conducted a very 
 thriving general mercantile business. Their 
 store, of which they are the owners, stands on 
 what was formerly the old Platner homestead, 
 and measures fifty by fifty feet, exclusive of 
 the house and store-rooms. They carry the 
 largest stock of general goods in this section, 
 their boot and shoe depaitment being the 
 largest between Kingston and Catskill. 
 They have been very successful, and their 
 business is continually on the increase. 
 Ouiet, unassuming gentlemen, they enjoy a 
 wide popularity. 
 
 Mr. William C. Platner married on June 5, 
 1895, Miss Marion Becker, of Grand Gorge, 
 an estimable lady, the daughter of Thomas 
 and l{lizabeth (Wyckoff) Becker, then of that 
 place, but now of Stamford village. He is a 
 Democrat politically, but hitherto has de- 
 
 clined office, preferring to give his undivided 
 attention to his business. He was formerly 
 interested in the then proposed Kingston & 
 Utica Railway, being secretary of the com- 
 pany. He is a member of Oasis Lodge, No. 
 119, F. & A. M., which he joined in 18S8, 
 and in which he has filled some of the chairs, 
 being now Senior Warden. He and his wife 
 belong to the Reformed church, which they 
 attend and help support. 
 
 RTHUR HENRY FAROUHER, late 
 a well-known furniture manufacturer 
 and dealer of Schoharie, N.Y., was 
 born in the town of Berne, in Albany County, 
 this State, on October 27, 1840, and died at 
 his home in Schoharie, a few weeks since, 
 August 9, 1899. He was a son of James and 
 Margaret (Clark) Farquher. His paternal 
 grandfather, John P'arquher, was a butcher by 
 trade, and was engaged for a time in the 
 market business in Ireland. In 1S30 Grand- 
 father P'arquher came to America and settled 
 in Berne, N.Y., where his son James had pre- 
 ceded him. 
 
 James Farquher was born in Ireland, and 
 remained in that country until after his mar- 
 riage. He was educated in the public schools 
 there, and subsequently engaged in the 
 market business until he purchased a farm. 
 Believing that the New World offered great 
 opportunities to the industrious and enterpris- 
 ing, he came over to this country with his 
 wife and one child, and eventually met with 
 the success he had hoped for. At first, how- 
 
386 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ever, it was an uphill road to climb. When 
 he arrived in Albany he foiind that his money 
 had given out, and he was obliged to walk 
 from that city to Rensselaerville. After 
 ])r()sperity came to him, he bought a farm, and 
 there lived until his death, at the age of 
 eighty-two. He made many friends in his 
 adoiJted country, being highly respected by his 
 fellows on account of his industry and hon- 
 esty. He was at first a Whig and later a Re- 
 ])ul)lican; and he was warmly inlerestetl in the 
 i'resbyterian church, of which his wife was a 
 member. Mrs. Margaret I'arciuher was born 
 in Ireland, being the daughter of a farmer and 
 one of a family of five children. .She lived 
 to be seventy-si.\ years of age. .She was the 
 mother of thirteen chililren, of whom nine grew 
 to maturity, namely : John: William; Joseph; 
 Jane, who is the widow of Daniel Carey; 
 Elizabeth; Arthur H.; Thomas; Mary, who 
 is the wife of Rensselaer Taylor; and 
 Francis. 
 
 Arthur H. Farc|uber spent his boyhood 
 years in Berne, attending the public schools, 
 and during vacation time assisting his father 
 on the farm. In 1<S57, at the age of seven- 
 teen, he left home and went to Gilboa, where 
 he served three years' apprenticeshii) at the 
 cabinet-maker's trade, and subsequently re- 
 mained a year as journeyman. 
 
 On September 25, 1861, Mr. b'arquher en- 
 listed in the military service of his country, 
 and on the first day of the succeeding October 
 was assigned to the United States Lancers. 
 ( )n November 2 of the same year he was 
 transferred to Compan\' H of the I-'oiirth New 
 
 York Heavy Artillery, and while a member of 
 that company saw some of the hardest fighting 
 that occurred in the whole course of the Civil 
 War. The following are among the engage- 
 ments in which he took part: battle of the 
 Wilderness, on ]\Iay 6, 1864; Todd"s Tavern, 
 on May 8; Hart's Farm, May 9; Spottsylvania 
 Court House, May 12; North Anna River, on 
 May 23; Sheldon F\arm, on May 30; Cold 
 Harbor, on June 3, 1864; Petersburg, on 
 June 18 and July 30, 1864; Deep Bottom, on 
 August 14: Ream's Station, on August 25; 
 Mile Run, cm December 9, 1864; Hatcher's 
 Run, on February 5. 1865; assault on the 
 lines, on March 25; ojiening the campaign, 
 on March 28, 29, and 30; South Side Road, 
 on A]iril 2. He was at Appomattox at the 
 time of the surrender of Lee, April g, 1865. 
 Mr. b'arquher went into the service as a pri- 
 vate, and came out of it as a Sergeant. The 
 Colonel of his regiment was Colonel John C. 
 Tiddball, and the Lieutenant Colonel, Thomas 
 Alcott. D. F. Hamlin was the i\Lajor. The 
 detachment of whicii Mr. b^arquher's company 
 formetl a [xirt left Washington for the front 
 with twenty-two himdred men, and in five 
 months' fighting, from M.irch 23 to August 
 25, lost eighteen hundred. In one engage- 
 ment of an hour's (hiration sixty men of his 
 own company fell. Mr. b'arqnher was one of 
 those who escaped unhurt. He seemed to 
 bear a charmed life, and was not even 
 wounded. The terrible slaughter at Peters- 
 burg he never forgot. It stood out among 
 many other scenes of horror as the most 
 (i ireful of all. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 387 
 
 Returning to Gilboa, after being discliarged 
 in October, 1865, Mr. Farquher worked for 
 his old em[5loyer until the fall of 1866, when 
 he came to Schoharie, antl began working for 
 a man who was located in the same building 
 in which he, Mr. Farquher, subsequently car- 
 ried on business. In 1874 he became a part- 
 ner, and a year later the firm changed and 
 became Farquher & Settle, which was in busi- 
 ness for two years and a half. Mr. Farquher 
 then took his first partner, who remained with 
 him for some seven years. At the end of that 
 time Mr. Farquher became full proprietor of 
 the business, and henceforth he continued it 
 alone. Occupying the four floors of his large 
 building, he carried a very large stock of fur- 
 niture, and had an extensive trade. After 
 1893 his manufacturing of furniture was con- 
 fined mostly to custom work of the highest 
 grade. The business has been established 
 here for over fifty years, and has always 
 merited the full confidence of the public. As 
 a consequence its fair reputation has spread, 
 and its patrons have come from long dis- 
 tances. The undertaking department has also 
 been long established here, and is the only 
 one in town. 
 
 Mr. Farquher was married to his first wife 
 in 1865. She was Maria C. Benjamin, 
 daughter of Ebenezer B-'njamin, a farir.er of 
 Gilboa. In religious faith she was a Meth- 
 odist. She died at the age of thirty-one, 
 having been the mother of three children; 
 namely, Fr.d R.. Minnie E., and Henj imin |. 
 Fred R., who married Mary R. L.irkins, is a 
 furniture dealer and undertaker at Central 
 
 Bridge. Minnie married Robert A. Dewey, 
 cashier in one of the Schoharie banks, and she 
 is the mother of one son, Arthur. Benja- 
 min J. was his father's assistant. He is an 
 enterprising and able young man, and bids 
 fair to equal his father in business ability. 
 Mr. Arthur H. Farquher married for his sec- 
 ond wife Ida M. Schoolcraft, who was born in 
 the town of Wright, being one of a family of 
 five children of Peter P. Schoolcraft, a farmer. 
 She died at the age of thirty. .She was a 
 member of the Lutheran church. The pres- 
 ent Mrs. Farquher was before her marriage 
 Amanda Wright. She is a daughter of Ezra 
 Wright and a native of Albany County. 
 
 In politics Mr. P^arquher was a Republican. 
 He was a trustee of the village for eight 
 years, and at the time of his death was still 
 serving as president, having held the office for 
 four years. This is a strongly Democratic 
 town. Mr. Farquher usually refused public 
 office, but at one time, in order to gratify the 
 wishes of the party leaders, he permitted his 
 name to be used on the Republican ticket for 
 Supervisor, and thereby reduced the Demo- 
 cratic majority from three hundred and six- 
 teen to thirty-five. He was a member and for 
 three years was treasurer of Schoharie Valley 
 Lodge of Masons, No. 491, having held also 
 numerous other offices in the lodge. For 
 twenty-nine years he was a member of the fire 
 department, and much of the time either fore- 
 man of the company or chief engineer of the 
 dcpirtm'.nl. He tuok in active part in ,ill 
 movements affecting the int^r.-sts of the town 
 and was one of those foremost in securing the 
 
3S8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 incorporation of the vill:i,i;e. He was a mem- 
 ber and had been Commander of Hoosick Mix 
 Tost, No. 134, G. A. R.; also a member for 
 many years of the Schoharie County Histori- 
 cal Society. He was an attendant of the 
 Lutheran church of this place, and his son is 
 Deacon of the church. 
 
 VcAjMI.I.IAM JA^H'IS SMP:ALLIE, a 
 V; W, thrilt\- farmer cif Print etown, Scho- 
 harie County, N.V., was born in this town, 
 iMay 10, 1852, son of John and Jane (Milmine) 
 .Smeallie. His father was born here March 
 3, 1816, and his mother was liorn in Florida, 
 N.Y. , March 26, 18 16. His luiternal grand- 
 father, James Smeallie, was hcnn in Linlith- 
 gowshire, Scotland, Ajiril 18, 1786, and came 
 to America in iSii. James Smeallie settled 
 ujion a farm in the northerly part of Prince- 
 town, where he resided the rest of his life. He 
 was quite prominent in public affairs, serving 
 as Sii|)ervis(ir and School Commissioner, and 
 he was one of the founders of the United 
 Presbyterian Church of l'"lorida, N.Y. He 
 married his cousin, Mar\' .Smeallie. She was 
 the daughter of his uncle, John Smeallie, first, 
 a native of Scotland, who came to this country 
 and served as a soldiei' in the Revolutionary 
 War. 
 
 John -Smeallie, second, son of James and 
 Mary, was a prosperous farmer and lifelong 
 resident of Princetown. Being a man of pro- 
 gressive tendencies, he made good use of his 
 resources, and realized excellent resnlts as a 
 general farmer. In |iolitics he was originall}' 
 
 a Whig and later a Republican. He was a 
 member of the Scotch church. Jane Milmine 
 Smeallie, his wife, became the mother of three 
 children, namely: Mary E., wife of John M. 
 Conover ; William J., the subject of this 
 sketch; and Agnes Smeallie, of I'lincetown. 
 John Smeallie, second, lived to be seventy-five 
 years old, but Mrs. Smeallie died at thirty- 
 eight. 
 
 William James Smeallie was educated in the 
 district schools. He resided in Duanesburg 
 for ten )'ears, but with that exception has been 
 engaged in general farming in Princetown ever 
 since reaching manhood. He is now the owner 
 of one hundred acres of fertile land, compris- 
 ing one of the best farms in town. He makes 
 a specialt)' of breeding Jersey cattle and fancy 
 15oultry, owning at the present time some fine 
 specimens of each, and his buildings are well 
 adapted for these purposes. 
 
 Mr. Smeallie has served with ability as K\- 
 cise Commissioner twelve years, and is now 
 holding the (}fiFice of Overseer of the Poor. In 
 politics he acts with the Republican |iarty. 
 The family has long enjoyed local distinction 
 for thrift and prosperity, and the subject of 
 this sketch has fully demonstrated his ability 
 to maintain this rejnitation. Mr. Smeallie is 
 unmarried. He attends the L'nitcd Presb\- 
 terian church, of which he was elected ]'21der 
 in 1883. 
 
 •^KNJAMIN H. AVERY,* an enter- 
 ^y\ prising merchant of JefTerson, 
 .Schoharie County, and an ex-mem- 
 ber of the New York State legislature, was 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 589 
 
 born in Jefferson, December 29, 1852, son of 
 Beriah and Lydia (Buckingham) Avery. His 
 immigrant progenitor, Christopher Avery, 
 came over from England early in the Colonial 
 period, lived for some years at Gloucester, 
 Mass., and was Selectman there in 1646, 
 1652, and 1654. In March, 1658-9, Christo- 
 pher Avery bought land and one-half of a 
 house in Boston, situated where the pcst-office 
 now stands. This property he sold in 1663, 
 and in 1665 he bought a house and lot in New 
 London, Conn., his son James having moved 
 to that colony some years before. 
 
 From Christopher the line is traced through 
 James, Thomas, Abraham, William, l^en- 
 jamin, John, and Beriah to Benjamin H., the 
 subject of this sketch. The original dwell- 
 ing-house, built by Captain James Avery in 
 1656 in what was formerly New London and 
 afterward Groton, Conn., was burned in July, 
 1894. Some of the Avery ancestors fought in 
 the Revolutionary War, and a monument to 
 their memory has been erected by John D. 
 Rockefeller, the Standard Oil magnate, who 
 is related to the family. 
 
 John Avery, the grandfather, who was a 
 tanner, served in the Assembly in 1850, and 
 held other offices. Beriah Avery, Benjamin 
 Avery's father, was engaged in mercantile 
 business in Jefferson for a number of years, 
 and was quite active in public affairs, serving 
 as Supervisor with marked ability. He was a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 His wife, Lydia, who was a daughter of Will- 
 iam Buckingham, of Harpersfield, became the 
 mother of four children — -William, Benjamin, 
 
 Mary, and Edward. William, who succeeded 
 to his father's business, died in 1876, aged 
 about twenty-si.x years; and Mary and Edward 
 died in early childhood. Beriah Avery died 
 in 1891, at the age of si.\ty-seven years, his 
 wife having died one week previous. 
 
 Benjamin Avery attended school in Char- 
 lotteville for a time, and completed his studies 
 at the Stamford Seminary. Going to River 
 P'alls, Wis., he was employed there as a clerk 
 until 1876, when he returned to Jefferson, and 
 purchased the business left by his brother 
 William. He has one of the largest and old- 
 est established general stores in town, and 
 ranks among the substantial merchants in this 
 part of the county. As a member of the 
 Board of Supervisors he was active in forward- 
 ing the interests of the town. In the legis- 
 lature he introduced no less than twenty-four 
 bills, fourteen of which became laws. He 
 was assigned to the Committees on Internal 
 Affairs, Villages, Fish and Game, and Agri- 
 culture, being chairman of the first-named 
 body; and his work in the committee-room 
 and upon the floor was heartily commended by 
 the majority of voters, irrespective of party. 
 Politically, he is a Democrat. He has been 
 treasurer of the water company since its 
 organization, having been instrumental in 
 securing the construction of the works, and 
 he was a director of the old railroad line. 
 
 Mr. Avery married Anna D. Fuller, daugh- 
 ter of J. Dean F"uller, of Jefferson. They 
 have two children — William H. and Edna B. 
 P'or twenty-two years Mr. Avery has been a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 
39° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 in whicli he lias seivctl as stevvartl ami Sunday- 
 school siiperintenclent for a greater part of 
 that time. Mr. Avery is an Odd Fellow, be- 
 longing to Richmondville Lodge, No. 525, 
 and is also a member of the band, of which he 
 has been leader for a number of years. Mrs. 
 Avery is a member of the church and of the 
 Woman's Christian Temperance Union. 
 
 (^OIIN :\L'\GINNIS,* superintendent of 
 the Athens Knitting Mill, was burn in 
 (iilboa, Schoharie County, on June 5, 
 1849, son of Patrick and Mary (Brady) Magin- 
 nis. His jxirents were both born in Ireland. 
 
 Patrick Maginnis was a tanner by trade, and 
 followed that occupation after coming to this 
 country and settling in (iilboa. He retired 
 from business at about fifty years of age, and 
 dietl about ten \ears later. His wife, wlio 
 was also born in Ireland, died at si.\t\-si.\. 
 Of their ten children four are living; namely, 
 Bernard, Anna, John, and Mary. Anna is the 
 wife of James Fitzpatrick. Mary married 
 James Mitchell, since deceased. All the chil- 
 ilren were born in this country. 
 
 John Maginnis remained in his native place 
 up to the age nf nineteen. He received his 
 early education in the public schoids and at 
 a seminar}', and snbsequentl\- studied with pri- 
 vate teachers and also in an evening school. 
 Ills first industrial e.\|)erience was in the cot- 
 ton sheeting mill in Cilboa, and while there 
 he worked in e\er\ deinutment. His second 
 was in the Harmony Mills at Cohoes, where 
 he worked ten years as overseer in the weaving 
 
 room. Following this he was for ten years in 
 the \'an Allen Cotton Mills at Stuyvesant 
 Falls, five \ears in Valatieas superintendent of 
 the Wild Manufacturing Company, and seven 
 )'ears sujierintenilent of the Harder Knitting 
 Compan\' in Hudson. At the end of that time 
 he settled here in his jiresent business. He 
 was one of the organizers of the company, and 
 he superintended the building of the mill and 
 the putting in of the machinery. The factory 
 is two hundred and twent\- feet long by fifty- 
 five feet in width, and is two stories high. It 
 has si.x sets of machiner\% all of which are 
 made after the most improved plans, and is de- 
 voted to the manufacture of fleecc-lineil knitted 
 underwear. About one hundred and fift)' 
 hands are employed, all of whom are hired and 
 superintended by Mr. Maginnis. He attends 
 to the disposing of the output of the mill, 
 sending goods to every State in the Union. 
 
 Mr. Maginnis has been twice married. His 
 first wife, whose maiden name was Libbie 
 Sparlin, was born in Hensonville. Her father 
 was Philiji .Sparlin, a hatter. She died at the 
 age of thirt\-two, having been the mother of 
 two sons— \\illiam and Byron. The former, 
 who is a baker in North Adams, Mass., is 
 married and has three children — Willie, 
 Helen, and Jdhii. Bvi'on is also married. 
 He is an engineer in the fire department of 
 Cohoes. Mr. Maginnis's second wife was be- 
 fore her marriage F'mma Peck. She was born 
 in Craigsville. 
 
 Mr. Maginnis is a Ke])ubliian in politics. 
 He served as Alderman from Ward Five in 
 Hudson. He has always been a most success- 
 
JOHN McGINMS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 393 
 
 fill man, and since he began working has never 
 been without a ]Xjsition. On account of his 
 skill in his chosen line he has frequently been 
 solicited to enter positions more profitable 
 than the one he was holding when asked. In 
 Cohoes he was one of thirteen to help put up 
 the machinery, and was engaged as overseer. 
 While in Stuyvesant Falls he introduced new 
 machinery into the mill, and remodelled the 
 old, so that the output of the mill there was 
 largely increased. 
 
 Mr. Maginnis has been a member of the 
 Methodist church for twenty years. Both his 
 wives have also been members. In whatever 
 town he has been living, he has taken an 
 active part in all church matters and in the 
 Sunday-school. While in Hudson he had 
 charge of the prison work of the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. He has been a trustee 
 of every church with which he has been con- 
 nected, and in Stuyvesant Falls and \'alatie 
 was superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
 
 .^\s 
 
 |APTAIN JAMES STEAD, superin- 
 tendent and manager of the Catskill 
 and New York Steamboat Evening 
 Line at Catskill, N.Y., was born in Cairo, this 
 State, on May 23, 1832, his parents being 
 David and Hannah (Mackelwaite) Stead. 
 
 The father, David Stead, was born in Hud- 
 dersfield, England, and in early life was em- 
 ployed there in a woollen manufactory. He 
 came to America when forty years of age, and 
 settled in Cairo, where he bought a farm. For 
 a time he carried on a woollen manufactory in 
 
 Woodstock, a part of Cairo, but he subse- 
 quently closed out the business and engaged in 
 farming. He died at the age of eighty, after 
 having li\ed retired for some time in the vil- 
 lage of Cairo. He was an old-time Whig, 
 but though warmly interested in all public 
 affairs was never an aspirant for office. His 
 wife, Hannah, who also was of English birth, 
 died in Cairo at the age of seventy-nine. She 
 bore him four children, of whom there are liv- 
 ing — James, John, and Levi. John, who re- 
 sides in Cairo at the old homestead, carries on 
 a boarding-house; Levi is in business in Chi- 
 cago; and Charles is deceased. Both parents 
 were members of the Episcopal church. 
 
 James Stead left home at eighteen years of 
 age, and went to work as clerk in the office of 
 Penfield, Day & Co., who managed a steam- 
 boat line between New York and Catskill. Jn 
 time he rose to be a captain, and he was in 
 their employ in that capacity for several years. 
 Subsequently, for three years, he was captain 
 of a steamer owned by Hamilton & .Srnith, and 
 engaged in freighting between New Baltimore 
 and New York, and at the end of that time he 
 acted as salesman for the same firm on a line 
 of boats plying between Co.xsackie and New 
 York. For a year during the Civil War he 
 was in the employ of the government, acting 
 as inspector of the bay for the army, it being 
 his duty to load schooners at Jersey City and 
 make reports to Quartermaster Brown. P'or 
 the ne.xt three years after this he was captain 
 of the "New Champion," a boat cnvned by 
 Black & Donohue, running from Catskill to 
 New York ; and, following that, he was for two 
 
394 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 years in company with Mr. Cicorge H. Pen- 
 fiekl, his first cmjj.oyer, running a line of 
 barges. Then, for a second period of three 
 years, he was master of the "New Champion," 
 and at the end of tliat time he became one of 
 the organizers of the Catskill and New York 
 Steamboat Company. 
 
 Mr. Uonohue was superintendent <if the 
 company at the start, and Captain .Stead was 
 in command of one of the boats; but, upon the 
 ileath of .Ml'. ]).)niihue. Captain Stead was made 
 superintendent and general manager. At first 
 there were two small boats, the "New Cham- 
 ]iion " and the "Water Hrette. " These were 
 superseded after a time by the "Escort" and 
 the "Charlotte Vanderbilt," which were much 
 larger boats and which were in turn superseded 
 by others of still greater cajiacity. In 1880 
 the company built the "City of Catskill," 
 which has a keel two hundred and forty-seven 
 feet in length, beam thirty-five feet in width, 
 and sixty-one feet over all, and has a carrying 
 ca]iacity of five hundred tons and accommoda- 
 tions for two hundred and fift\- passengers. In 
 1882 was built the " Katterskill, " two hundred 
 and eighty-five feet in length, thirty-eight feet 
 beam, and si.\ty-six feet over all, and capable 
 of accommodating five hundred passengers, 
 This is one of tiie finest boats on the rivei, 
 and one of the most jiopular. Hoth these 
 boats were built under Captain .Stead's con- 
 stant supervision, and they met the needs of 
 the business nntil 1893, when tlie "J'^scort" 
 was rebuilt and her name changed to the 
 "City of Hudson. " In 1898 the "OiUeora" 
 was built, length two hundred and lorty-seven 
 
 feet, beam thirty-five feet, and sixty-three feet 
 over all, and capable of carrying six hundred 
 people. She was built for night service, and 
 is the fastest night boat afloat, having a speed 
 of twenty-three miles an hour. She has made 
 the run fiom New York to Catskill, a distance 
 of one hundred and twent\- miles, and made 
 one landing, in four hours and twenty minutes. 
 Captain .Stead takes much jiride in this boat, 
 as she was built by his ]dans and measure- 
 ments. She is fitted with everv convenience 
 for the comfort of guests. This company is a 
 stock concern, and does a large and constantly 
 increasing business. Their boats connect with 
 the Catskill Mountain Railroad, and in the 
 summer they carry a large number of toLU"ists 
 and cpiantities of freight. 
 
 Captain .Stead was married in 1865 to 
 Rachel E. Pettit, who was born in Dutchess 
 County, a daughter of Lewis Pettit. One 
 child has blessed this union, hla II., now the 
 wife of Charles I. I-"iero, superintendent of the 
 Pratt hr.mch of the .Standard Oil Company in 
 Creenpoint. Mr. and Mrs. I-'iero have one 
 daughter, Rachel .S. 
 
 The Captain is a Republican in politics. 
 In 1879 he was elected .Sheriff, which office he 
 held until 1882, when he declined to serve 
 longer. In 1883 he was elected to the legis- 
 lature, where he served one year. Me is a 
 prominent man in his part\', was for a long 
 time a member of the County Committee, and 
 has many times been a delegate to Republican 
 conventions. He helped nominate Governor 
 Morton. I'"or three years he was a trustee of 
 the \illage, and for a year president of the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 395 
 
 Board of Trustees. Captain Stead has the dis- 
 tinction of having been longer in the boating 
 business than any other man on the Hudson. 
 He built his present residence in 1897. He 
 is a trustee of the Catskill Savings Bank, 
 and president of the Catskill Ferry Company 
 running between Catskill and Catskill Station, 
 and an owner in the last-named corporation. 
 He is also one of the directors of the Hudson 
 Steamboat Company. He attends the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church, of which his wife and 
 daughter are members. 
 
 I ••■ t 
 
 KKVI M. DEFANDORF, a .skilful 
 farmer and dairyman of Seward, Scho- 
 "^*^ harie County, owner and occupant 
 of a fine farm lying about a mile and a half 
 from H3nds\-ille village, is a representative of 
 one of the oldest families in this part of the 
 State of New York. He was born on this 
 farm on April 26, 1S31, son of John and Eliz- 
 abeth (Petrie) Defandorf. His first progenitor 
 in this country, his great-grandfather, came 
 from Germany. 
 
 Jacob Defandorf, father of John, l^ought a 
 large tract of heavily timbered land in Seward, 
 N.Y. , which included the larger part of the 
 homestead of his grandson, Levi M., and the 
 adjoining estate of one hundred and seventy 
 acres. In common with his neighbors, who 
 were few and were settled far apart, he suf- 
 fered the hardships of j^ioneer life, but with 
 true German habits of industry and persever- 
 ance worked steadily; and the end of each year 
 saw more land cleared and larger crops har- 
 
 vested. He died, probably in the log cabin 
 which he reared on coming to the wilderness, 
 at the age of fifty years, leaving a widow, Mrs. 
 Susan Defandorf, and si.\ children. Mrs. De- 
 fandorf was born at Frey's Bush, Montgomery 
 County, and died in Seward at the age of four- 
 score and four years. 
 
 John Defandorf remained beneath the paren- 
 tal roof until ready to establish a home of his 
 own, when he purchased a portion of the pa- 
 rental estate. Here he was successfully em- 
 plo}ed in general agricultural pursuits until 
 his death, at the age of si.\ty-four years. 
 After he had made the last payment on his 
 property, he began making needed improve- 
 ments. The present dwelling-house was 
 erected by him. A man of intelligence, he 
 was greatly interested in all things pertaining 
 to the welfare of the town, but was never an 
 aspirant for official honors. He married Eliz- 
 abeth Petrie, one of the se\'en children of John 
 Handrake Petrie, a well-known farmer of Car- 
 lisle, Schoharie County. I-^olu- children were 
 born of their union, and two of them are liv- 
 ing, namely: Julia Ann, wife of Austin 
 P'rance, of Seward \'alley; and Levi M. 
 The parents were consistent memjjers of the 
 Methodist church. 
 
 Levi M. Defandorf attended the district 
 school when it was in session during his boy- 
 hood and youth, and in the same period was so 
 well trained at home that he became as famil- 
 iar with the work of the farm as he was with 
 his books. On attaining his majority, he 
 bought one hundred and thirty-two acres of the 
 old Defandorf homestead; and, having since 
 
396 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 added to it nineteen acres by purcliase, lie has 
 a large farm, and one of the best in line of im- 
 provements and appointments of any in the 
 N-icinitx'. He devotes his lime to general 
 farming, raising grain and hops to a considera- 
 ble extent, hut mailing a specialty of stock-rais- 
 ing and dairying. Frum his herd of twenty 
 or more grade Holstein and Jersey cows, he 
 makes butter, the greater jjart of which he ships 
 to his son, who is engaged in the grocery busi- 
 ness in Troy, N. Y., and some to tlie markets in 
 Ohio and in Washington, D. C. He has always 
 taken a great interest in the establishment of 
 permanent town, county, and State agricult- 
 ural associations; and as an exhibitor at fairs, 
 held under the auspices of these organizations, 
 Mr. Defandorf has on se\eral occasions taken 
 the first ]iremium on stock. Tlie credit of 
 establishing the products of his dairy as among 
 the best in the market, he gladly gives to 
 his deceased wife, who was an expert butter- 
 maker. 
 
 I\Ir. Defandorf married, April 25, 1850, 
 Miss Lucinda R. Sexton, daughter of Austin 
 Se.xton. Her father was formerly engaged in 
 farming in this part of Schoharie County, 
 l)Ut afterward remo\ed to Oriskany Falls, 
 N.\'., wluTe he operatetl a grist-mill and 
 where he sjx-nt his remaining days. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Defandorf reared five children; 
 namely, Mary E.., Clark B., Jason F. , John A., 
 and Daniel A. Mary is the wife of Dr. Adam 
 Myers, of Husk irk, Rensselaer County, and 
 has two children — Victor and Raljili. Clark 
 H. , deceased, married Susan Ostrandei', who 
 bore him three children — Jessie, Arthur, and 
 
 Lucinda. Jason F. Defandorf was graduated 
 with high honors from the Cazenovia Acad- 
 emy, afterward spent three years at the W'es- 
 leyan Universit\', Middletown, Conn., and 
 still later attended the Law School in Wash- 
 ington, D. C, where he received the degree of 
 Bachelor of Arts, and has since been employed 
 by the government in the post-office and 
 in the War and Treasury Departments in 
 that cit\'. He married Miss Hattie Holmes, 
 and has four children — lilizabeth 1'., James, 
 John Levi, and Marion. John A. Defandorf 
 was for one year clerk in a store at Cobleskill, 
 then was several years a clerk in Troy, and 
 subsecpiently went into business for himself 
 witli his cousin, Charles H. Sexton, at Troy. 
 He married I'^mma Smith, and they have one 
 child, Clark. Daniel A., the youngest son, 
 completed his education at the Cobleskill 
 High School, and subsequently taught school 
 several terms in Seward and Sharon. He as- 
 sists his father in the care of the home farm, 
 and is also a local preacher in the Methodist 
 church. He married Carrie \'roman, daughter 
 of Barney Vroman. 
 
 After forty-seven years of happy wedded 
 life, Mrs. Lucinda R. Defandorf passed to the 
 brighter world be)'oiul, her death occurring 
 June 6, 1897. She was a woman of exem- 
 plary character and great personal worth, in 
 every way deserving the high respect univer- 
 sally accorded her. She was a faithful mem- 
 ber of the Methodist church, of which Mr. 
 Defandorf is one of the oldest members now 
 lix'ing, anil in which he has held all the 
 offices, having been a trustee and steward for 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 397 
 
 years, a class leader for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury, and for fifteen years superintendent of 
 the Sunday-school, in which his wife, Lu- 
 ciiida, was a teacher. lioth assisted in every 
 work indorsed by the church, and their hospi- 
 table home was ever open to receive the minis- 
 ters of that denomination. 
 
 On January 25, 1898, Mr. Defandorf mar- 
 ried Mrs. Catherine M. Somers, daughter of 
 Joseph l^^rance, a farmer of Seward, N.Y. 
 Three children were born to the present Mrs. 
 Defandorf and her former husband, Peter N. 
 Somers — Howard S., Ernest F., and Arthur 
 L. , deceased. 
 
 (shames MADISON CASE, a prominent 
 business man of Gilboa, N.Y., was 
 born in this town, July 7, 1849, son of 
 Daniel and Hetsey (Chichester) Case. He is 
 a descendant of John Case, who came over 
 from England more than two hundred and fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 A brief account of the life of John Case, 
 the immigrant, by A. P. Case, of Vernon, 
 N. Y., has recently appeared in print. In 
 this book mention is made of records showing 
 that John Case as early as 1640 was living in 
 the vicinity of Hartford, Conn.; that in 1656 
 he was an inhabitant of Long Island, a year 
 or two later removing to Windsor, Conn., 
 and in i66g one of the first settlers at Sims- 
 bury, Conn., so named in 1670. For four 
 years he represented the town in the General 
 Court, or Assembly. He married first Sarah, 
 daughter of William Sjiencer, of Hartford. 
 
 She died in 1691, and lie afterward inarried 
 Elizabeth Loomis, a widow. He had ten 
 children, all by his first wife; namely, Eliza- 
 beth, Mary, John, William, Samuel, Richard, 
 Bartholomew, Joseph, Sarah, and Abigail. 
 
 The Case family in England is said to have 
 been numerously represented for a number of 
 generations at Aylsham, Norfolk County. 
 Calvin Case, who was born in Connecticut, 
 Ajiril 10, 1763, came to Conesville, N.Y., 
 and a few years later he moved to Gilboa, 
 where he acquired two tracts of land, amount- 
 ing in all to two hundred acres. The prop- 
 erty he occupied, which is still known as the 
 Case farm, now consists of one hundred and 
 si.xty acres, and the original title is in the 
 possession of his grandson, the subject of this 
 sketch. His first abiding-place was a log 
 hut, the entrance to which was covered with 
 a blanket ; and from a struggling pioneer he 
 rose to be a well-to-do farmer, stock-raiser, 
 and grain dealer. Calvin Case, it is said, 
 served as a minute-man in 1777, and was 
 ordered to the front at the second battle of 
 Stillwater, but arrived after the surrender of 
 General Burgoyne. The Case family have an 
 honorable recortl for patriotism, seventy or more 
 of that name from Connecticut having served 
 in the Revolution, upward of twenty in the 
 War of 1812, and over fifty in the Civil War. 
 Calvin Case was married in Connecticut, 
 August 2, 1793, to Jerusha Griffin, and he 
 brought three children with him to Schoharie 
 County. He died January 4, 1854, aged 
 ninety-one years, and liis wife, who was bom 
 December 2, 1777, died May 7, 1849. They 
 
398 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 reared a family of thirteen children, namely: 
 Calvin, who moved from Conesville to Blen- 
 heim; Luther, who died at Potter's Hollow; 
 Mlishn, Allen, and Krastiis, who all died in 
 Conesville; Ira, who now resitles at Cones- 
 ville; Daniel, James M. Case's father; 
 Griffin, who died in Gil boa; Hiram, who re- 
 sided in Catskill; Joel, who died while 
 young; Jerusha, deceased, who married Or- 
 lean l)e Witt, of Oak Hill: h'liza, who mar- 
 ried S. Mackey, of Gilboa; and IMnebe, who 
 married William Floss, of Gilboa. The sons 
 were all farmers except Hiram, who was a 
 cattle dealer, hotel-keeper, and general specu- 
 lator. The grandparents were Presbyterians, 
 and most of their chililren became members of 
 that church. 
 
 Daniel Case remained at the homestead to 
 care for his parents in their old age, and after 
 their death he succeeded to the ownership of 
 the property by ])urehasing the interests of 
 the other heirs. He was an energetic, indirs- 
 trious, :ind successful farmer, and at his 
 death, which occurred November lo, 1886, he 
 left a good estate. His wife, ]5etsey, was a 
 daughter of Joseph Chichester, and the maiden 
 name of her mother was Welch. The Chi- 
 chesters are of Scotch descent, ;uid the 
 Welches are saiti to be of Dutch origin. Jo- 
 seph Chichester h:ul a family of nine children. 
 Daniel and Betsey Case reared hut one child, 
 James M., the subject of this sketch. The 
 mother died l-'ebruary 19, 1875. 
 
 James Madison Case was educateil in Gil- 
 boa, and taught several terms of school after 
 the com]iletion of his studies. He assisted 
 
 his father in farming from the time he was 
 able to be of use until the age of twenty-four, 
 when he engaged in general mercantile busi- 
 ness in company with Abraham Walker, a 
 partnership that ended at the death of Mr. 
 Walker some three years later. He continued 
 in business alone some .si.xteen years, or until 
 about 1893, when he sold out to George E. 
 Hawver. He has since given his attention to 
 the bu\'ing of country pioduce, including 
 butter, which he handles quite extensively. 
 He also buys large quantities of wool, which 
 he ships to Boston; and during the p.ist year 
 his shipments amounted to over one hundred 
 thousand pounds. He still owns the home- 
 stead, upon which he raises some fine horses, 
 and he takes special pride in preserving the 
 old dwelling which was built by his grand- 
 father over eighty years ago. Far the past 
 ten years he has been actively interested in 
 inland fisheries, in stocking the various 
 streams in this locality, and is regarded as an 
 authority on that subject. 
 
 Mr. Case married Hattie E. Hawver, 
 daughter of William W. and Samantha (Hay) 
 Hawver. She was the first-born of eight chil- 
 dren, the others being: Emma D., who died 
 at the age of six years; Ella, who married 
 G. N. Thorp; George E., a merchant of Url- 
 ton, N.Y. ; James B., a prosperous f;irmer, 
 who occupies the ol 1 homestead in Cones- 
 ville; Flora A,, who died at the age of 
 twenty-one years; Bertha, wife of James Car- 
 penter; and M.utha, who married D. T. Fer- 
 guson, of Alton, 111. Mr. and Mrs. Case 
 have had two daughters: Merta, who died 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 399 
 
 aged four years; and Mina, wlio died aged one 
 year. 
 
 In politics Mr. Case is a Democrat, and for 
 a number of years was Postmaster. He has 
 served upon the Town Committee several 
 terms, has attended as a delegate many county 
 conventions, but has never sought for or held 
 local ofifices. He is a Master Mason, and be- 
 longs to Gilboa Lodge, No. 630. 
 
 'RANK RUFUS SEARLES, M.D., 
 J physician and surgeon, Catskill, N. Y., 
 was born in Newton, N.J., April 29, 1S6S, 
 son of Arthur and Alice (Martin) Searles. 
 On the paternal side he comes of English an- 
 cestry, and through his materniil grandfather 
 he is a descendant of French Protestants, or 
 Huguenots. The first of the Searles family 
 who came to America settled in Massachu- 
 setts, and was a farmer. Representatives of 
 the family participated in the Revolutionary 
 War, the War of 181 2, and the French and 
 Indian War. Dr. Searles's great-great-grand- 
 father, John Finlay, was an aide on the staff 
 of General Green and also on that of General 
 Mifflin. 
 
 Arthur Searles, the Doctor's father, was 
 reared in Massachusetts. lie followed agri- 
 culture until of age, when he went to New 
 Jersey. Later he entered commercial life in 
 New York, and resided there until his death, 
 which occurred at the age of thirty. Mr. 
 Searles is survived by his wife, Alice, and 
 their only child, Frank Rufus, the special 
 subject of this sketch. The Doctor's mother. 
 
 now Mrs. Lester Leggett, resides in Plainfield, 
 N.J. She has one brother, Frederick Martin. 
 Her parents were Lebbeus L. and Frances 
 (Beach) Martin. Her father was a wholesale 
 clothing merchant of Plainfield, N.J., moved 
 from that town to Newton, N.J., and at one 
 time resided in New York for a short period. 
 His death occurred in Plainfield, N.J., in 
 1898, at the age of seventy-eight. 
 
 Frank Rufus Searles was educated in the 
 common and high schools and at Leal's Acad- 
 emy, Plainfield, N.J. His medical studies 
 were completed at the Long Island College 
 Hospital, from which he was graduated March 
 22, 1892. He began the practice of his pro- 
 fession at Plainfield, N.J., where he remained 
 one year, removing from there to Hunter, 
 Greene County, and two years later settling in 
 Catskill, N. Y. He has made rapid progress 
 in his profession, and is highl\' esteemed both 
 as a physician and citizen. 
 
 On November S, 1893, Dr. .Searles was 
 joined in marriage with Miss Myra Rose 
 Lowrie, daughter of Dr. H. H. and Myra G. 
 (Burr) Lowrie, of Plainfield. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Searles have one child, P'rank Rufus Searles, 
 second. There are twent)'-t\vo physicians in 
 the Lowrie family, and Mrs. .Searles's father 
 has practised in Plainfield many years. Her 
 mother, who is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. , 
 and a descendant of a br;inch of the family to 
 which Aaron Burr belonged, has reared four 
 children, namely: Caroline, who is the wife 
 of the Rev. C. G. J^ristol, rector of Colts 
 Memorial Church, Hartford, Conn. ; Myra 
 Rose, now Mrs. .Searles; Maud Myra, now 
 
40O 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Mrs. Julian Dcane, who is residiiij; at Spring- 
 field, Mass.; and II. H. Lowric, Jr., who is 
 manai^er of an insurance coniiiau)' in I'liila- 
 delphia, I'a. 
 
 Dr. Scarlcs has served as president of the 
 Greene County Medical Society, and has fre- 
 quently read jwpers before that body upon 
 timel}' topics. He is now delegate to the 
 Medical Societ}-, State of New York. He is 
 Assistant Surgeon of the Sixteenth Comiiany, 
 N. G. S., N.V., now acting captain; is 
 medical examiner for a number of life insur- 
 ance companies; and is local health officer 
 and secretary of the Board of l". S. Pension 
 Examiners of Greene County. In politics he 
 is a Republican. Dr. and Mrs. Searles are 
 members of Christ's Presbyterian Church. 
 
 (^OlIN 11. PURTIS, Jr.,* proprietor of 
 the Hotel St. Charles, Hunter, N.V., 
 was born in Hidoklyn, I.<>ng Island, 
 October 24, i86g, son of John II. and Mary 
 (Thompson) Purtis. His father is a native 
 of Washington County, Mew \'oik, and his 
 mother was born in Nar.tucket, Mass. His 
 immigrant ancestor came from I''loi"ence, Italy; 
 and his great-grandfather Purtis and his grand- 
 father, whose name was John, were natives 
 of Washington County, this State. 
 
 John Purtis was a carpenter and builder and 
 a manufacturer of sieves. In his latter years 
 he remo\ed to Hunter, where he carried on a 
 large sieve factory until his deatli, which oc- 
 curred in 1 8go. He was a Justice of the 
 
 Peace many years, was familiarly known as 
 Squire Purtis, and he enjoyed the esteem of all 
 who knew him. In his religious belief he was 
 a Presbyterian. He married for his first wife 
 PLliza Lee, a native of Washington County, 
 and had a large famih' of children, of whom 
 the only one living is John H., Sr. The 
 grandmother's death occurred many years prior 
 to that of her husband. 
 
 John H. Purtis, Sr. , was reared in Wash- 
 ington Count\'. In 1845 became to Hunter, 
 and purchased a tract of land comprising three 
 hundred and fifty acres, mostly covered with 
 timber, w-hich he at first used for sporting pm- 
 poses, and later cleared for cultivation. For 
 several )ears he contlucted the stove and tin- 
 ware business in New York City. After that 
 he engaged in the dried fruit trade and still 
 later in the wholesale drug and ])atent medi- 
 cine business. At the present time he is a 
 jirosperous real estate dealer in Brooklyn, 
 where he resides winters, his smnmers being 
 spent in Hunter. His original residence here, 
 which he built shortly after jHuchasiiig his 
 property, he afterward enlarged for the accom- 
 modation of summer boarders; and it was con- 
 ducted by his half-brother until 1882, when it 
 was destro3ed by fire. In 188^ the present 
 large hotel was erected. P'or three )'ears it 
 was in charge of .S. P. \'an Loan, later in that 
 of Mr. Scripture, and in 189^ John H. Purtis, 
 Jr., became its manager. 
 
 John H. Pint is, .Sr. , is a Repul)lican in pol- 
 itics. He was in the Assembly in 1875 and 
 1876, and is quite active in the jjublic affairs 
 of Pr<;oklyn. In Masonry he has advanced to 
 
JOHN H. BURTIS. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 403 
 
 the thirty-second degree. He has served as 
 Deputy Grand Master, and belongs to the Mys- 
 tic Shrine; is vice-president of the Union 
 League Club, Brooklyn; and [jrcsident of 
 Aurora Grata Club. 
 
 His wife, Mary, is a daughter of James B. 
 and Mary (Gardner) Thompson. Her father 
 was a graduate of Yale and a well-known 
 mathematician. He was the author of Thomji- 
 son's Arithmetics, and has written over forty 
 different volumes, known as Thompson's 
 Mathematical Series, including arithmetic, 
 algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. He was 
 at one time principal of an academy in Nan- 
 tucket, Mass. During the latter part of his 
 life he made his home in New York, where he 
 died at the age of eighty years. His wife, 
 Mary Gardner Thompson, who is still living, 
 is now seventy-five years old. Mrs. Mary 
 Thompson Burtis was educated in Brooklyn 
 and at a young ladies' seminary in New- 
 Haven, Conn. She is president of Memorial 
 Hospital, Brooklyn, and is jjrominent in char- 
 itable work. She has had seven children, 
 three of whom are living: Mary L. , John H., 
 Jr., and Grace L. Burtis. Charles Burtis, 
 M.D. , was graduated from the New York 
 Ilomceopathic College, and at the time of his 
 death was practising his profession in Atlanta, 
 Ga. Grace L. is a student at Vassar College, 
 Poughkeepsie. The parents are members of 
 the Congregational church. 
 
 John II. Burtis, Jr., began his education in 
 the common schools of Brooklyn, and fitted for 
 college at the Latin school. He was graduated 
 from C(.)lumbia College in 1S94, with the de- 
 
 gree of Bachelor of Arts, and subsequently 
 studied law. During the summer of 1893 he 
 managed the Hotel St. Charles in Hunter, and 
 since i<S94 he has resided here permanently. 
 This hotel, which is situated upon the highest 
 elevation in the Catskill region, occupies a de- 
 sirable location on what is known as Breeze 
 Lawn Farm. The building is seventy-five feet 
 front, one hunchx'd and si.xty-three feet deep, 
 and four stories high. It has broad piazzas on 
 three sides, and is equipped with all modern 
 improvements, including passenger elevator 
 and telegraph office. With the anne.x it 
 has accommodations for two hundred guests. 
 The table is supplied with fresh cream, 
 butter, eggs, and vegetables from the farm 
 connected with the house; and the service 
 is of the best. Aside from the hotel Mr. 
 Burtis manages Breeze Lawn, consisting of 
 three hunilred and fifty acres. He carries on 
 a dairy, and sends his surplus products to 
 market. 
 
 On October 9, 1895, Mr. liurtis married 
 Zaidee I. Scribner, a native of Hunter, daugh- 
 ter of Peter H. and Agnes (Merwin) Scribner. 
 Her father, who at one time was engaged in 
 mercantile business in Cat.skill, is at present 
 residing in Palen\'ille, where he accommodates 
 summer boarders. 
 
 Mr. Scribner original!}' came from Connect- 
 icut. He has had four children: Zaidee I., 
 now Mrs. Burtis; George H. ; Bertha; and 
 Merwin. Mr. and Mrs. Burtis are the parents 
 of two children — Thompson H. and Grace 
 Agnes. 
 
 Mr. Burtis is a Republican in politics, and 
 
404 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Ikis been quite jiioniinent in [niblic affairs. 
 lie iielongs to tlie Masonic Oidei, being a 
 nicmijcr of Mount Tabor Lodge and the chap- 
 ter in Windham. lie attends the Methodi.st 
 Episcopal ciiurcli. 
 
 « <•» » 
 
 IMURY STEVENS, of Conesville, an ex- 
 member of the State legislature, was 
 bnin in this town, September 24, 1839, son of 
 Levi l-". antl Thirza (Sage) .Stevens. His 
 grandfather, Peter S. , and liis great-grand- 
 father, Gcrshom Stevens, both came here from 
 Fairfield, Conn., in i.S'05, Peter S. being tlien 
 a young man. 
 
 Gershom .Stesens i)ecamc tiie second owner 
 of the first grist-mill in this region, and he 
 operated it for a number of years. His chil- 
 dren were: Levi, (iershom, Peter S., Ozias, 
 and two daughters. Some years after his 
 death his son Peter .S. remodelled the mill 
 into a tannery. This was afterward destroyed 
 by fire, and two other buildings erected upon 
 the site were also burned. 
 
 Peter S. .Stevens was tiie fatlicr of ten chil- 
 dren ; namely, Levi L., Walter, Alfred, Nel- 
 son, Tompkins, Tiialia A., Sally, John P". , 
 t)zias D., and another son who died in in- 
 fancy. I'he onl_\' one now li\ing is Tomp- 
 kins, who is a well-known dealer in hides in 
 New York City. 'I'halia A. married Andiew 
 Rickc}', and .Sall\- married ("harles .Sturgis. 
 [ohn h\, who ijecame a physician, was for five 
 vears president of a medical scliool in St. 
 Louis, Mo., and afterward [jractised in Hrook- 
 lyn, N. v. Nelson tlied in Conesville, aged 
 
 twent\'-four \ears. Tompkins, Alfred, and 
 Walter went to .Sullivan County, and were 
 instrumental in building up the town of Stev- 
 ensville, where tiiey o[)erated tanneries for 
 many years, being also engaged in lumbering 
 and farming. The .Stevens brothers built a 
 hotel in Conesville, wiiich was first opened by 
 Gershom. 
 
 Levi F. .Stevens, father of I'"mory, was in 
 his )'ounger da)s interested in the tannery at 
 Conesville, and for a while he kept a store. 
 He succeeded to the ownership of the home- 
 stead jiroperty, which was in his day a jaart of 
 the original tract one mile square acquired by 
 his grandfather. He was an able, energetic, 
 and successfid farmer, and favorably known 
 through this section of the count}'. Politi- 
 cally lie was a Democrat, and held some of 
 the town offices. He was an active member 
 and a prominent official of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal churcli, whose house of worshi]i was 
 built principal!)' through the instrmnentality 
 of his father and David .Sage. Levi F. 
 Stevens died March 2>^, 1890, aged eighty 
 years. 
 
 His wife, Thirza, was a daughter of 
 David Sage, who removed with iiis family to 
 Conesville froni Connecticut. He was a de- 
 scendant of David Sage, first, who was born in 
 Wales in 16.19, 'i"'! coming to America was 
 one of the earliest settlers in Middletown, 
 Conn. Tile inniiigrant was also the ancestor 
 of Russell Sage, the well-known financier. 
 J'he .Sage familv. we are told, dates its origin 
 from the time of the Norman conquest, its 
 founder having fought on the winning side at 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 405 
 
 the battle of Hastings. Mrs. Stevens's 
 father, who was born in Connecticut, settled 
 upon a tract of two hunilretl acres in that part of 
 Broome which is now Conesville, and Ijecame 
 a successful farmer. He was one of the 
 founders of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
 Strykersville. His children were: Daniel, 
 Abiel, Simeon, Levi, Thirza (Mrs. Stevens), 
 Polly, and Lucena. Abiel, twin brother to 
 Thirza, died in Ashland, Greene County, 
 N.Y. ; Daniel died in Conesville; Levi died 
 while young; and Simeon, who amassed a for- 
 tune in business in New York City, died in 
 Windham. 
 
 Levi F. and Thirza (Sage) Stevens had 
 seven children; namely, Diantha M., David 
 S. , Delphus T. , Thalia A., Emory, Ozro, and 
 Daniel T. Stevens. Diantha M. died at the 
 age of fifteen years; David S. , who resided in 
 Gilboa, was for twenty years a Methodist 
 preacher; Delphus T. , who died at the age of 
 twenty-eight, was a promising young lawyer in 
 Oak Hill, N. V. ; Thalia A. died at sixteen; 
 Ozro died at eighteen ; antl Daniel T. died at 
 twenty-three years. The mother died in Au- 
 gust, 1890, aged eighty-five years. 
 
 Emory Stevens completed his education at 
 the Charlotteville Academy. He taught 
 school for some time, and afterward he was 
 employed as a clerk in mercantile business at 
 Conesville and Gilboa. He then went to 
 Iowa, where for the ne.xt few years he was en- 
 gaged in various kinds of business, including 
 mercantile. For some time he kept a sale 
 stable in Des Moines, and while in that city he 
 also speculated rather extensively in real es- 
 
 tate. Since his return home he has devoted 
 some of his time to educational work. 
 
 In politics he is a Democrat, and while re- 
 siding in Iowa was chosen a delegate to repre- 
 sent Harrison County in the State Convention. 
 He has served as a Supervisor in Conesville 
 for three years. He also served as chairman 
 of the County Canvassers' Committee, as fore- 
 man of the Grand Jury, and during his term in 
 the Assembly he was a member of several im- 
 ])(>rtant committees. Mr. .Stevens is a member 
 of the Methodist church, and was for a number 
 of years superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
 
 Mr. Stevens married Emma Miller, daugh- 
 ter of William Miller, of Conesville. They 
 have six children; namely, Ward E. , Walter 
 A., Linnie D., Ralph F., Levi F., and Susie 
 E. Ward E. was graduated from the New 
 York Dental College in 1897. Walter A. is 
 a member of the police force. 
 
 ^OHN WESLEY GAYLORD, a repre- 
 sentative citizen of Conesville, N. Y., 
 was born -in this town on April 4, 
 1840, son of George and Fannie (Humphrey) 
 Gaylord. On the paternal side he is of Hu- 
 guenot descent. His emigrant ancestors on 
 leaving France settled first in England, 
 whence some of the family found their way to 
 this country. His great-grandfather Gaylord 
 .served as an Ensign in the Continental army 
 during the Revolutionary War. He was a 
 man of considerable property. 
 
 John (iaylord, son of Ensign Gaylord, was 
 but a young boy at the time his father died; 
 
4o6 
 
 lUOC.RArHICAL KKVIKW 
 
 and lie was bciiinil nut to a Captain Langdon, 
 of Litchfield, Conn. He ran away, however, 
 at about the age of eighteen, having received 
 none of his inheritance, and with one Allen 
 Griffin came to Conesville, journeying by way 
 of Catskill, guided by marked trees. He set- 
 tled on the Sotts jxitent, now known as the 
 Van Dyke farm, and built a log house to live 
 in. After remaining there a few years, he re- 
 moved to a farm on the stage road Ijetvveen 
 Gilboa and Cairo, in Manor Kill \illage. 
 Subsequentl)- he settled on the farm wdiere his 
 grandson, John Wesley Gaylord, now resides. 
 He became the largest land-owner of his time, 
 owning from four to five hundred acres. 
 When he arrived here he had only tifl}- dollars 
 in his [locket. He married .Sabrina Atwood, re- 
 turning to Connecticut for that purpose. She 
 bore him three sons — IHram, Henry, and 
 George. To each of these he gave a handsome 
 property upon his coming of age. He then 
 himself started afresii, ami in time accumu- 
 lated as much as he had at first, so that during 
 his life he owned between eight hundred and 
 a thousand acres. I'ol it ically, he was a Dem- 
 ocrat, and the leading member of his party 
 hereabouts. In religious faith he was a Meth- 
 odist. He helped to build the Methodist 
 church here, and was always one of its most 
 liberal supporters. He died at the age of 
 seventy-eight, and his wife died latei', at aliout 
 the same age. His son Hiram became a 
 wealthy merchant of New Voik City. Henry, 
 who removed to Catskill in i.S6,S, became a 
 wealthy dealer in live stock ami wool, and later 
 in real estate. He died at Catskill in Janu- 
 
 ary, 1898, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. 
 He had traxelled extensively. The fine bell 
 on the church at Manor Kill was presented by 
 him some four years ago at a cost of four hun- 
 dred dollars. 
 
 George Ga)!ord, father of Joiin W. , was 
 born on April 28, 1S15, in Conesville, and re- 
 sided here all his life, dying in 1878. He 
 kept a hostelr\- for drovers, the largest in the 
 State, furnishing accommodation.s one night 
 for fifteen hundred cattle. Drovers came here 
 from different -States, and it is said that one 
 paid him ninety dollars for three tons of hay 
 to feed his drove for a single night. He was 
 famed far and wide for his hos]iitality and for 
 his sunn}' and genial temper. Himself an ex- 
 pert judge of cattle, he bought and sold many 
 head. He ownetl a farm of si.x hundred acres, 
 uiHin which he raised annually from fifty to' 
 seventy-five tons of hay. During war time he 
 kept three hundred sheep, and forty or fifty 
 head of cattle. Like his father, he was a 
 strong Democrat; but he was no office-seeker. 
 He was marrietl on December 31, 1838. Both 
 he and his wife were active and devoted mem- 
 bers of the Methodist church, and gave it gen- 
 erous financial support. The latter, who was 
 born on August 21, 18 18, died in 1868. She 
 was the mother nf four children, namely: 
 John \V. ; W'dodforil, wh(} was born on January 
 2, 1842; Cjeorge L. , who was born on June g, 
 1846; and Ogclen, who was born on June 13, 
 1849. (ieorge 1'^., who was for many years 
 engaged in the cattle birsiness, is one of tiie 
 laigest land-owners here. He is an influential 
 man, a political leader, and has twice been 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 407 
 
 Supervisor of the town. Ogden is in the 
 meat business at Gilboa. Woodford is the 
 well known ex-Sheriff. 
 
 John Wesley Gaylord was educated in the 
 district schools, at Chartlotteville Hii;'h 
 School and Ashland Academ}', beint;- a stu- 
 dent in the last-named institution in i860, 
 when it was burned. After his marriage he 
 settled on a farm of his own, where he lived 
 for ten years. He then came back to take 
 charge of the homestead farm. Here he now 
 owns some five hundred acres. He was for- 
 merly engaged to some extent in dairying and 
 in growing hay. P^rom youth also he has been 
 interested in buying and selling cattle, being 
 an expert judge of stock. In 1868 he went on 
 the road in this business, but after some years 
 gave it up, only to start again in 1880 in com- 
 pany with his brother George. The latter re- 
 tired from the partnership in 1891, and Mr. 
 J. W. Gaylord has since continued alone. In 
 his early life he taught school for a time, but 
 finally decided that business was much more 
 congenial to him. As a cattle dealer, he has 
 travelled into Canada and throughout this 
 State, principally in Dutchess, Columbia, 
 Green, .Schoharie, Otsego, Montgomery, Jef- 
 ferson, and Delaware Counties. He also went 
 into Connecticut on some of his trips. Me 
 was usually absent from home three or four 
 weeks at a time. Like his father, he is noted 
 among all who know him for his genial hospi- 
 tality. He is popular in his own town; and it 
 is said that, if he takes a subscription paper 
 among the people for any purpose whatever, he 
 is sure to fill it with names. No faniilv in 
 
 the community has done more for the church 
 of the town than the Gaylord family. Mr. 
 John W. Gaylord in this respect has not been 
 behind his father and grandfather in generosity 
 and in the sup]3ort of every good movement. 
 In politics he is a Democrat. 
 
 At twenty-three Mr. Gaylord was united in 
 marriage with Mary K. Porter, daughter of 
 a Scotch family. Mrs. Gaylord died on De- 
 cember 17, 1897, having been the mother of 
 three children. Of these, John H. died in in- 
 fancy; and George Porter died on December 
 14, 1889, at the age of twenty-three. Fannie 
 M., the only daughter, resides with her father. 
 She attended the Albany Normal .School, and 
 subsecpiently taught school until her marriage 
 with Coral E. Rictchmyer. .She has one 
 child, Mabel G. George Porter Gaylord was 
 a young man of great promise. In his youth 
 he attended a select school in 15roome Centre, 
 and then took a course in the Albany Busi- 
 ness College. He was nearly qualified to take 
 his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the Uni- 
 versity of the City of New York when he be- 
 came ill. He was naturally a devoted student, 
 and his close confinement to his books had un- 
 dermined his health. He was a Mason of Gil- 
 boa 'Lodge, and remarkably well informed on 
 Masonic historv for one of his age. 
 
 <^»^» 
 
 yy. GARDINER COFFIN, cashier of 
 the Catskill National Bank of Cats- 
 ■ kill and Supervisor of the town of 
 Catskill, is a native of this village, and 
 was born on August 10, 1859, his parents 
 
4o8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 being Uriah H. and Elizabeth J. (Surfieet) 
 Coffin. 
 
 The family of which he is a representative 
 has existed for many -generations in England. 
 Tristram Coffin, the founder of the American 
 branch, was the son of Peter and Joan (Them- 
 ber or Thumber) Coffin, of Bri.xton, Devon- 
 shire, and a grandson of Nicholas Coffin of 
 that place, who died in 1613. Tristram 
 Coffin, born probably at Brixton, about 1605, 
 married Dionis Stevens. He came to New 
 Englanil with liis widowed mother and his 
 family in 1642. After residing successively 
 in Haverhill, Newbury, and Salisbury, he 
 finally, about 1660, settled at Nantucket, 
 where he died in 168 1, and where some of his 
 descendants live at this day. Mr. Coffin has 
 in his possession a copy of the commission, 
 dated June 29, 1671, granted by F"rancis 
 Lovelace, Governor of New York, to Tristram 
 Coffin to be chief magistrate over the islands 
 of Nantucket and Tuckernuck. 
 
 Mr. Coffin's grandfather, Peter G. Coffin, 
 was l)orn in Hudson, N.Y., on July 30, 1794. 
 For many years he owned and ran boats be- 
 tween Catskill and Albany. He died on De- 
 cember 5, 1858. He was three times mar- 
 ried. His second wife, the grandmother of 
 P. Gardiner Coffin, was before her marriage 
 Lucy O. Green. She was born in Athens, 
 N.Y. , on November i, 1793, ami died there 
 on February 7, 1834, having been the mother 
 of only one child, Uriah H. Both she and 
 her husband were Episcopalians. 
 
 Uriah H. Coffin was born on May 30, 1831. 
 He was brought up in Athens, Greene County, 
 
 N.Y., removed to Catskill, and engaged 
 in grocery business there. He was captain 
 for a time of the "P. G. Coffin" that ran be- 
 tween Albany and Catskill, and later he ran 
 on the boats plying between New York and 
 Catskill. After being engaged in the boating 
 business for some years, he removed to White- 
 hall, N.Y. He enlisted during the Civil 
 War, was commissioned as Captain of a com- 
 pany in the One Hundred and Twentieth Regi- 
 ment, and remained in the service until the 
 close of the war, being Quartermaster of the 
 regiment, on the staff of Colonel George H. 
 Sharp. Some time after being mustered out, 
 he received an appointment in the post-office 
 in New York City, and is now in charge of 
 the record ilepartment of the registration 
 office. In |)olitics he is a Republican. His 
 first wife, the mother of P. Gardiner Coffin, 
 died at the age of thirty-five, having borne 
 him three children. Of these the living are: 
 Charles G. , who is in the insurance business 
 in this town; and P. Gartliner. The second 
 wife was before her marriage Emma Johnson. 
 She was born in Whitehall, N.Y. She is the 
 mother of two sons now living — -Artinir and 
 Robert Coffin. 
 
 P. Gardiner Coffin lost his motiier when lie 
 was an infant. He was born and brought up 
 in Catskill, and has been a resident of tiiis 
 village all his life. In 1876 he was appointed 
 Deputy Postmaster of the town; and, after 
 filling that office in a most creditable manner 
 for six years, he entered the Catskill National 
 Bank as a general clerk. In a siiort time he 
 was a)i|iointed teller, in 1SS9 he was made 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 409 
 
 assistant cashier, and in 1S96 was promoted to 
 his present position of cashier, being also a 
 member of the board of directors. This bank 
 was organized in 1812, and is one of the old- 
 est banks, not only in the State, but in the 
 United States, and has a proud history. A 
 sketch of Mr. Coffin appears on page 552, and 
 his portrait on page igi, of the work recently 
 issued, entitled "Prominent Bankers of 
 America." 
 
 From 1885 to 1891 Mr. Coffin was inter- 
 ested with his brother in conducting a large 
 general insurance business. In 1888 he 
 helped to organize the Catskill Building and 
 Loan Association, and he has since been its 
 treasurer and one of its directors. For twelve 
 years he was treasurer of Catskill village. In 
 politics he is a Republican. He was elected 
 Supervisor of the town in 1896, and again in 
 1898 to serve one year; but by a change in 
 the law he will continue in office until 1900. 
 In 1898 he served as chairman of the board. 
 For many years he was a leading member of 
 the Republican county committee, and he was 
 its chairman for a year. His activity in pro- 
 moting the best interests of the village has 
 been unceasing, and his townsmen award him 
 due credit for his disinterested efforts. He 
 is well known in both town and county, and 
 highly respected. 
 
 Mr. Coffin was married on November 9, 
 1887, to Ida Brown, who was born in Peta- 
 luma, Cal. Her father, Captain John Brown, 
 formerly interested in the boating business on 
 the Hudson and a resident of Catskill, now 
 resides in California. He removed to that 
 
 State in 1S49, and was for many years with 
 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company as 
 master mariner in their steamboat service be- 
 tween San Francisco and Oakland. He has 
 now retired from business. Mrs. Coffin fre- 
 quently visits her family in California. She 
 has made the overland journey eight times, 
 Mr. Coffin accompanying her once. In 1S83 
 she and her mother were in the railway dis- 
 aster at Tehachepi, Southern California, where 
 eleven out of twenty-three persons in one car 
 were killed.. In this accident Mrs. Coffin 
 sustained injuries which kept her in the hos- 
 pital for several months, and the injuries of 
 her mother were of such a serious character 
 that she never fully recovered from their 
 effects. Mrs. Brown is now deceased. She 
 was a woman of unusual literary attainments, 
 ana was the author of a work on botany. It 
 was through her efforts that the library in 
 Alameda, Cal., was established. Her maiden 
 name was Helen Walter. She was born in 
 Catskill, daughter of William Walter, for 
 many years a leading merchant here. For a 
 time she lived in the family of Captain Hugh 
 Taylor. Mrs. Coffin is the only daughter in 
 a family of four children. Her eldest brother 
 Thomas is manager of the Western Union 
 Telegraph at Reno, Nev. William Brown, 
 second brother, is travelling freight and pas- 
 senger agent of the Great Northern Railroad 
 Company of California. George W. Brown, 
 another brother, is in the Wells & Fargo Ex- 
 press Company 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Coffin have three children — ■ 
 Charles G., Robert E., and Helen M. Mr, 
 
4IO 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Coffin is a member of Catskill Lodge of 
 Masons, and chairman of P^inance Committee. 
 He has held membership in the Dutch Re- 
 formed church for many years. 
 
 <:.\NKI.1N CI.AI'IM'.K, the well-kiinwn 
 (5 merchant of Mackey'-s Corners, Gilboa, 
 N.Y., is a native of this town. He was born 
 on May 4, 1S63, and is the only sun of Philip 
 and ]-5etsy (Robinson) Clapper. The family 
 is known to be of German descent, and it is 
 believed that Mr. Clapper's L;reat-i;reat-L;rand- 
 fatiier was its first rejiresentatixe in America. 
 
 His great-j;ran(lfather, Henr)- P. Clajiper, 
 came to Gilboa frcjm Coeymans, this .State, 
 about I Si 5, and settled in the imrth ])art of 
 the town, then in Broome. He took up a tract 
 of about a hunihed and forty acres of wild land, 
 and built first a l(jg cabin and later a frame 
 house. He felled the first trees, and did all 
 the clearing. Tliis farm is still ownetl by one 
 of the famih', a t;randson of the pioneer. 
 Henry P. Clapper tlied on the faini in 1849, 
 at the age of eight\'. His wife, whom he had 
 married in Coeymans, died some years before 
 he ditl. They had three sons — Sylvester, 
 Silas, anil George; and fom- daughters — 
 .Sarah, Peggy, Polly, and Harriet. George 
 resided at the homestead. .Silas settled in 
 anothei" part of the town. 
 
 Sylvester Clapper, gramlfather of p'ranklin, 
 was born in Coeymans in 1802, and died in 
 .Se]itember, 1884. He came to Gilboa with 
 his parents when about thirteen years of age, 
 and in time setlletl upon a [lorticai of the home- 
 
 stead farm, where he s])ent the remainder of 
 his life. He acquired some two hundred acres 
 of lanil. In religion he was a Baptist of the 
 old school. Politicalh', he was a strong Dem- 
 ocrat, and a leader in his part\' in this \ icin- 
 ity, though he never sought office for himself. 
 .\s a business man, he was shrewd and far-see- 
 ing. His judgment was much deferred to by 
 his fellow-citizens. His wife, whose maiden 
 name was Louisa Ryder, was lioin in 1807, 
 and died in i.S'91. Her ancestors were of Ger- 
 man descent, and came here from Columbia 
 Count\-. The children of S\'l\ester Clapper 
 were: Philip, Henry, John, and George M. 
 John, who remained on the homestead farm, 
 died in 1885. George M went to Michigan 
 in 1883. Henry B. is a \erv prosperous 
 farmer in Albany Count}'. He is married, 
 and has four children. Syh'cster Clapper was 
 interested in the turnpike road between North 
 Blenheim and Potter's Hollow, and together 
 with Mr. Tibbits was instrumental in securing 
 the legislation under which it was built. 
 
 Philil5 Clapper, above named, was educated 
 in the public schools, and subsequently taught 
 school for a number of terms. He has contin- 
 ued to be a student throughout his life, and 
 has been much looked to by his neighbors and 
 ac(|uaintances for information on doubtful 
 points under discussion. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. His first faiin consisted of one 
 hundred acres, all tillable land. Later he be- 
 came the owner of the homestead property, 
 where he has resided since 1863, in his active 
 years dexoting his energies to general farming, 
 giving special attention to dairying. His 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 411 
 
 wife, whose maiden name was Betsy Robinson, 
 is tlie daughter of John D. Robinson, whose 
 ancestors were of Scotch-English descent, emi- 
 grants from Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Philip Clapper have one son, Franklin, whose 
 personal history is given below, and a daugh- 
 ter Emmaline, who was married in December, 
 1894, to Edgar Ilulbert, of North Blenheim. 
 
 Franklin Clapper was educated in the pub- 
 lic schools and in a select school, receiving 
 more than ordinarily good advantages. Then 
 for some time he taught school during the win- 
 ter terms in the towns of Gilboa, Blenheim, 
 Breakabeen, and l'\dton, and engaged in farm- 
 ing during the summers. As a teacher he met 
 with great success, and in Breakabeen he had 
 a school of seventy ini|)ils. Deciding to go 
 into mercantile business, he bought out his 
 present stand in March, 1892, and since then 
 has devoted himself exclusively to building- 
 up a trade. Although he had no jirevious ex- 
 perience as a tradesman to guide him, he has 
 prospered even beyond his expectations. He 
 carries at the present time thrice the stock 
 that he carried at the outset, having enlarged 
 his line of drugs, groceries, dry goods, hard- 
 ware, and farm tools. He sends goods over 
 a radius of four or five miles. 
 
 Since 1893 Mr. Clapper has been the vil- 
 lage Postmaster. His management ha\'ing 
 proved satisfactory to both parties, no candi- 
 date has been put forth to oppose him. Fie is 
 also serving on his third term as Notary Pub- 
 lic. Mr. Clapper has often been delegate to 
 both local and county conventions. Repeat- 
 edly importuned to accept the nomination for 
 
 public office, he has declined, thcnigh he never 
 loses an opportunity to work for the good of 
 his party and of the community. He was in- 
 strimiental in the construction of a telephone 
 line to Mackey's Corners, thereby giving to 
 the citizens of that little hamlet direct and 
 rapid communication with the county seat and 
 other parts of the count)'. He is a Mason of 
 Gilboa Lodge, No. 630, of which he has been 
 Junior Deacon, and is warmly interested in 
 the ancient craft. When he juineil in 1887, 
 he was the youngest man in the lodge. 
 
 Mr. Clapper was married on April 21, 1897, 
 to Harriet E. VVykoff, who is the eldest of the 
 five children of George M. VVykoff. Mrs. 
 Clapper was a successful student in the One- 
 onta Normal School, and previ(jus to her mar- 
 riage she taught school. Mr. Clapper has 
 been a member of the Baptist choir for five or 
 si.x years, and at the present time his wife is 
 also a member. Both are popular in social 
 circles, and have every outlook for a prosper- 
 ous future. 
 
 ONVAS E. MARKHAM, of Fulton, 
 I teacher and farmer, well known in 
 -Schoharie County as Professor 
 Markham, was boin in this town, August 10, 
 1843, son of Alden, Jr., arrd Catherine (Cook) 
 Markham. Through his father he traces his 
 ancestry (by what line we ha\e not been in- 
 formed) to John Aldcn of the "Mayflower" 
 company of Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth. 
 Professor Markham's paternal grandparents, 
 Alden Markham, .Sr. , and Elizabeth Pease 
 
412 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Markham, were born, bred, and married in the 
 State of Connecticut. Soon after their mar- 
 riage they migrated westward to Otsego 
 County, New Yori<, where, in the town of 
 Worcester, the grandfather took up a tract of 
 forest-covered land, from which he cleared the 
 timber and improved a homestead. He became 
 actively identified with the interests of the 
 town, and, while establishing a home for him- 
 self and family, also assisted in developing the 
 resources of that section of the State. He was 
 among the leading farmers of the community, 
 and for many years served as Justice of the 
 Peace. He lived there until well advanced in 
 years, and then went to Massachusetts, where 
 he died at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, 
 who bore him .seven children, also lived to a 
 ripe old age. lioth were Baptists in their re- 
 ligious beliefs. 
 
 Alden Markham, Jr., was born and educated 
 in Otsego County; and, having been reared to 
 agricultural pursuits, he followed farming for 
 some years. He also taught during the winter 
 terms in Otsego County for a while, and later 
 on for a few terms in Richniondville, Scho- 
 harie County. In 1838, or soon after, he ac- 
 cepted a position in the public schools of Ful- 
 ton; and, being pleased with this localit}-, he 
 .subsequently invested his money here in a 
 farm, and resumed life as an agriculturist. A 
 few years afterward he removed to Massachu- 
 setts, where he spent his remaining days, pass- 
 ing away at the age of forty-nine years. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Catherine D. 
 Cook, was born in the western part of Fulton, 
 being a daughter of Nathaniel Cook, an exten- 
 
 sive farmer, who spent his life of threescore 
 and ten years in this town. Mrs. Markham 
 died at the early age of thirty-nine years, hav 
 ing borne her husband five children. Four of 
 this family are now living, namely: Convas 
 K. ; Asher ; Luther O. , who for a quarter of a 
 century has been Superintendent of Schools at 
 Haverstraw-, New York. ; and Elizabeth, wife 
 of E. \V. Haverly. Both parents were persons 
 of eminent pietv, and active members of the 
 Baptist church. 
 
 Convas E. Markham began teaching in the 
 district schools when but sixteen years old. 
 He afterward took a full course of stud}' at 
 the Schoharie Academy, and still further fitted 
 himself for a teacher by attending the Albany 
 Normal School, from which he was graduated 
 in 1869. He has since taught in \-arious 
 towns, including b'ulton, where he commenced 
 his career, Gallu[nille, in wdiose schools he 
 was employed twelve consecutive years, and 
 Esperance. He also taught se\eral years in 
 Piermont and Haverstraw, Rockland County. 
 Since his marriage he has resided on his farm 
 of one hundred acres in I-'nlton, and, in addi- 
 tion to his professional laljors in this \'icinity, 
 has been prosperously engaged in general farm- 
 ing and dairying. He is one of the oldest and 
 best known teachers of the county. 
 
 Mr. Markham married Carrie Louden, of 
 l-"ulto]i, a graduate of the Normal School, and 
 for some years prior to her marriage a teacher 
 in the public schools. She was born in Ful- 
 ton, being a daughter of Stephen Louden, of 
 whom a biographical sketch ap]:)ears elsewhere 
 in this volume. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 413 
 
 RANK H. FRANCE, a native of Sew- 
 ard, now residing in the village of 
 Cobleskill, was born on March ji, 1859, ^o" o^ 
 Gilbert G. and Angeline (Ottman) France. 
 He is a great-grandson of Sebastian Frantz, 
 one of the pioneers of Schoharie County. 
 
 Sebastian Frantz came from Germany in 
 1752, shortl)' after his marriage with Anna 
 Fritz. He was born in Wurtemberg, in the 
 year 1732, and his wife was born in the same 
 place in the year following. They were Luth- 
 erans, and, with three others of that persua- 
 sion, left their native land in order to secure 
 greater freedom of worship. The little party 
 landed in New York in November, 1753. 
 Sebastian was sent ahead to prospect for a 
 place in which to settle, and he eventually 
 chose a location in this county in what is now 
 the town of Seward. 
 
 He was a man of deep piety and great relig- 
 ious zeal, and his unflinching boldness in de- 
 fence of his faith has borne fruit in the lives 
 of his descendants. He brought with him 
 from the Fatherland his German family Bible, 
 the first Bible ever brought into the town of 
 Seward, and this is now in the possession of 
 the heirs of his grandson, the late Gilbert G. 
 France. Seven tedious years were spent in 
 clearing the land and making it capable of pro 
 ducing harvests, and at the end of that time 
 the desire of the immigrant's heart was ful- 
 filled in the erection, at what was called New 
 Rhinebeck, of a Lutheran church. The struc- 
 ture was a frame building, and was the second 
 house (if worship reared in the town. The 
 society was presided over by the Rev. Peter 
 
 Nicholas Sommer, a travelling Lutheran 
 preacher, who preached also to the Methodist 
 congregation in the other church, which was 
 located at Seward Centre. 
 
 The children of Sebastian Frantz numbered 
 twelve, and were named as follows : Anna, 
 Ernest Christopher, Eva, Elizabeth, Jacob, 
 Margaretta, John, Catherine, Henry, Lena, 
 Lawrence, and David. At the outbreak of the 
 Revolution, the two elder sons, Christopher and 
 Jacob, enlisted as soldiers, and were quartered 
 with their company in the Schoharie Valley. 
 On October 18, while Sebastian was away 
 from home dtiing government service, his home 
 was entered by an Lidian chief who was in the 
 employ of the British; two of the sons, John 
 and Henry, were taken captive; and the barns 
 and out-buildings were burned. Thus in a 
 moment were destroyed the results of years of 
 earnest toil. 
 
 Mrs. Anna Frantz, with her ten remaining 
 children fled to Gravel Mountain, where she 
 secreted herself for three days, not daring to 
 make a fire for fear that her hiding place might 
 be revealed. John, one of the captured sons, 
 was scalped and murdered, but Henry fortu- 
 nately escaped. On the same day, the young 
 woman who was to have been the bride of 
 Christopher in two weeks, was murdered. A 
 pair of silver shoe buckles, her wedding gift 
 from her lover, is still in the possession of her 
 family. After the war -Sebastian Frantz re- 
 paired and re-established his home, and subse- 
 quently remained thei'e until his death in 
 1805. His wife surviveil him ele\en years. 
 Both were buried on the home farm, but in 
 
414 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 i8gi the remains were disinterred by Gilbert 
 G. France and were removed to the Ziun Rural 
 Cemetery at Sewnrd Centre. 
 
 The descendants of this \viirtli\- pair now mn- 
 stitute a considerable jwrtion of the popula- 
 tion of Schoharie, and members of the fourth 
 and fifth generations have become residents in 
 other parts of the State. Henry I'rantz, w^ho 
 escaped from the liulians, spent his early life 
 on the homestead, ant! later bout;ht a farm near 
 bv, wlicrc he lived until his death, at the age 
 of eighty-eight. He was a most active Chris- 
 tian, and both he and his good wife were mem- 
 bers of the Methodist church. Her maiden 
 name was Maria Horn. She was born in Al- 
 bany, the daughter of Joseph lloin, a promi- 
 nent clothier of that place. She had one 
 sister, Margaret, who married Uavid Frantz. 
 
 Of the fifteen children of Henry Frantz, 
 fourteen grew to maturity, and thirteen were 
 married and had children. 'I'herc were eleven 
 sons, and of these se\-en became class leaders 
 in the Methodist cluuch, and of the seven two 
 became preachers, (iilbert G. !•" ranee was the 
 latest survivor of this large family. He had 
 at one time a hundred cousins, but all, with 
 one exception, are now deceased. 
 
 Gilbert G. France was born on tlie home- 
 stead on December 25, 1816, the youngest 
 child of his parent.s. He remained at home 
 until the age of seventeen, attending school 
 and assisting on the farm. Then he learned 
 the trade of tanner and currier. Subsequently 
 he went with his wife and children to Wiscon- 
 sin, and in companv with three others took up 
 some government land, and founded and named 
 
 the town of .Sharon. His title deed to this, 
 signed by President I'olk, is still in the pos- 
 session of his family. After remaining there 
 for seven years, he returned liast and traded 
 his land for a farm in Kichmondville, where he 
 lived for five years. In 1S56 he came to his 
 farm in .Seward, and from that time devoted 
 himself to general farming, hop-raising, and 
 dair3'ing. He had at one period a hundred aiul 
 forty acres, but later he cultivated about si.xty 
 acres, having also some outlying lands. He 
 built the farm buildings, as well as another 
 house and a store in the town, and several 
 dwelling-houses. During the last forty years 
 of his life he was a leader in every advanced 
 movement. He was one of the earl\- pro- 
 moters of the railroad which runs to Cherr)' 
 X'alle}', twenty-fi\e miles from Cobleskill, be- 
 ginning to agitate the subject in 1.S67 in com- 
 pany with Judge Campbell and Judge Bates. 
 Upon being a]ipoiuted one of the commis- 
 sioners, along with .Abraham .Sternberg and 
 Leonard Wilaiid, he was able to make arrange- 
 ments for bonding the town for twenty-five 
 thousand dollars. He was Railroad Commis- 
 sioner for fifteen years. 
 
 Gilbert G. !•" ranee was married in i S40, his 
 wife being the daughter of Christian Ottman, 
 and a native of this region. She dietl at the 
 age of si.\ty-tw(), having been the mother of 
 seven children. Of these, six are living; 
 namely, Augusta, Anna, Helen, Millaiil I'il- 
 more, hhi, and I-'rank H. Augusta mail led 
 Peter Haines, a farmer in the \-.illey, aiul has 
 one child, X'ergil liy name. Anna, who mar- 
 ried Haniuiil .Strail, has two children — Grace 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 415 
 
 and Gilbert. Helen married David l^erger, 
 who was killed jjy a stroke of lightnini,''. She 
 has two children — Ina and Arthur. Millard 
 F. , who always resided with his father, mar- 
 ried Mary Ikown, and has one child, Leland. 
 Ida is the wife of David Emerick, a travelling 
 salesman in Western New York, and is the 
 mother of two children — liertlia and Grace. 
 
 Gilbert G. France was actively interested in 
 jDolitics prior to the Civil War, and served a.s 
 Collector and as Overseer of the Poor. So far 
 as possible he refused public offices. He was 
 a charter member of the Grange, and was 
 one of its lecturers. lie was ardently in favor 
 of prohibition, and was a delegate to the State 
 convention at Syracuse for the Prohibition 
 party. On the occasion of the centennial 
 celebration of the anniversary of the town, he 
 was the president of the da\', and had full 
 charge of affairs. I"or fifty-eight years he was 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and fifty-six years a church officer. Thirty- 
 three years he was a class leader, and twenty 
 years superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
 The beautiful grove fitted up by him is largely 
 used for Sunda)'-school gatherings. At the 
 time of his death, which occurred on April 5, 
 1898, he was the oldest member of the charge, 
 which includes Hyndsville, Seward Valley, and 
 Seward Centre, and was probably the oldest 
 church official in the State. 
 
 Frank H. France is by trade a carpenter and 
 cabinet-maker. Since the ileath of his father 
 he has purchased village property in Coble- 
 skill, where he now resides. He has charge 
 of his father's farm, and is doing a prosperous 
 
 busines.s. He married Carrie M. Ireland, 
 daughter of Daniel Ireland, of Albany, and 
 she has borne him four children, as follows: 
 Lulu A., Gilbert D., Daniel D. , and Mel- 
 ville D. 
 
 DGAR JACKSON,* attorney and coun- 
 cilor at law, North Blenheim, 
 Schoharie County, N. V. , was born in the town 
 of Gilboa, this county, August 28, 1853, a 
 son of ]ubn I. Jackson. His grandfather, 
 David Jackson, was an early settler of Gilboa, 
 where he bought a large tract of land, and for 
 many years was one of its most successful 
 farmers and the Justice of the Peace. To him 
 and his wife, Peggy, three children were born. 
 John I. Jackson, who was brought up on a 
 farm, and received his education in the com- 
 mon schools, followed agricultural pursuits in 
 his early manhood, and after marriage pur- 
 cha.sed a farm not far from the site of the pres- 
 ent post-office in Mackey. Taking up the 
 study of law, he pursued it diligently, and, 
 after his admission to the bar, in 1855, prac- 
 tised his profession in Gilboa for nearly forty 
 years, and achieved considerable fame as a 
 lawyer of sound judgment and superior knowl- 
 edge. He was a Republican in politics, prom 
 inent in town matters, and served as Super- 
 visor. He married Mary A. Moore, a native 
 of (iilboa. She was a daughter of Samuel 
 Moore, who came of pioneer stock. She died 
 at the age of sixty-four years, March 31, 1879, 
 leaving six children, namely: Rhoda, de- 
 ceased; William M., a farmer in Iowa; Lu- 
 
4i6 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 cinda, deceased; Oscar D. , a farmer; Edgar, 
 the special subject of this biography ; and 
 Luther. Both parents were members of the 
 Baptist church ; and the father was for many 
 years a memlx-r of (iilboa Lodge, F. & A. IVL 
 lie died on October 23, 1893, at tlie age of 
 fourscore years. 
 
 Edgar Jackson acquired the rudiments of his 
 education in the public schools of Gilboa, and 
 afterward continued his studies at the Dela- 
 ware Literary Institute. He subsequently en- 
 gaged in mechanical pursuits for a while, and 
 then turned his attention to the study of law, 
 which he pursued to such good [nnpose that in 
 1 886 he was admitted to practice in the differ- 
 ent courts by Judson S. Lawdon and Augustus 
 Bakes, Judges of the Supreme Court at Albany. 
 The following two years lie jiractised with his 
 father in Gilboa, whence, in 18S8, he came to 
 North Blenheim, where he has built up a large 
 and lucrative general practice, being employed 
 in the Justice, Surrogate, County, and Su- 
 preme Courts. In 1S94 he built his ])resent 
 commodious office, which is central!)- located. 
 While living in Gilboa he served as Justice of 
 the Peace some years and as Town Trustee. 
 Since coming here he has been Commissioner 
 of Highways. Politically, Mr. Jackson is a 
 straightfoiward Rcpulilican ; and, frateinally, 
 he is a member ol (iilboa Lodge, V. & A. M. 
 
 Mr. Jackson married in 1873. 1 1 is wife's 
 mother, whose maiden name was .Sally E. 
 James, is still living, and has two children: 
 Mrs. Jackson; and Orville A., of Chenango 
 Comity. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have one 
 child, II. Warren. Mr. Jackson is a memljer 
 
 of the ]?aptist church, while Mrs. Jackson be- 
 longs to the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 sTlAMES K. ALVERSON,* who has been 
 
 identified with the educational interests 
 of Schoharie County, New York, as 
 school teacher and School Commissioner for 
 the past three decades, resides in Middleburg, 
 where he built his present residence in 1883. 
 He was born February 21, 1845, in Berne, Al- 
 bany County, a son of Leonard Alverson. His 
 grandfather, Lsaac Alverson, formerly a black- 
 smith in the city of Albany, was killed in one 
 of the battles of the War of 18 12, while in the 
 prime of manhood. 
 
 Leonard Alverson was reared on a farm in 
 Duanesburg, N. Y. He learned the black- 
 smith's trade, which he subsequently followetl 
 in Berne, not far from Hunter's Land. In 
 Berne he afterward settled on a farm, and also 
 carried on a grocery store and conducted a 
 hotel, being very popular as a lantlloril. In 
 ]jolitics he was a sound Democrat. He servetl 
 as Assessor of Berne and as Supervisor, and 
 for a number of years he was a Deacon of the 
 Christian church. He subsequently [nir- 
 chascd a farm in Hunter's Land, on which he 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits until his 
 death, at the age of si.xty-five years. He mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Cutter, or, as she was familiarh- 
 known in her girlhood, Betsey Wilbur, who 
 was born in Duanesburg, a daughter of Esquire 
 Wilbur. Her father was a well-to-do farmer 
 and an exjiert fox huntei-. He reared four 
 chiUlren, namely: Sarah, wife of .Setli Owens; 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 417 
 
 William B. ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Alversoii, de- 
 ceased ; and Joseph W. 
 
 James K. Aiverson attended the common 
 schools of his district until he was fourteen 
 years old, and then began earning his own li\'- 
 ing by \vorking out by the month, being thus 
 employed until the breaking out of the Civil 
 War. At the age of eighteen he enlisted 
 in Company M, Seventh New York Artil- 
 lery, with which he served eighteen months. 
 He participated in the battles of Spottsyl- 
 vania, Anna River, and Cold Harbor, where 
 he was twice wounded by minie-balls, once 
 in the right forearm and once in the left 
 thigh. He was taken to the hospital, from 
 which he was discharged as a private at the 
 end of eight months. Returning home, he 
 commenced his career as a teacher, being- 
 employed in 1865 and 1866 in Berne. After- 
 ward he was principal of schools in the 
 village of Schoharie, in IMiddleburg, and 
 Wright, and in other places in Schoharie and 
 Albany Counties, for a continuous period of 
 twenty years. In 1888 Mr. Aiverson was 
 elected School Commissioner of the First Dis- 
 trict of Schoharie County for a term of three 
 years, and in 1894 was again elected to the 
 same responsible position, and ser\ed until 
 1897. As School Commissioner he had to 
 examine the one hundred and twelve teachers 
 employed in the ninety-eight schools under his 
 immediate supervision, and personally visit 
 each school in the eight towns composing his 
 tlistrict. Since the exiiiration of his last term 
 in this capacity, he has resumed his foimer 
 occupation as a teacher, and is now one of the 
 
 oldest instructors in this part of the county and 
 one of the most successful. He was formerly 
 a member of the Schoharie County Teachers' 
 Association, anil while a Commissioner of the 
 l^'irst District he built many new school- 
 houses. He is a Democrat in politics, and was 
 twice elected Collector of the town of Berne. 
 Fraternally, he is a member of the Moses 
 Tompkins Post, No. 149, G. A. R., in which 
 he has served as Officer of the Day and been 
 Commander, and belongs also to the Miildle- 
 burg Lodge, Le Bastelle, I. O. O. F. , in which 
 he has passed all the chairs, and is now Past 
 Noble Grand. He and his family attend the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 In 1S76 Mr. Aiverson married Miss Rhoda 
 Shoemaker, a daughter of Abraham and Phebe 
 (Layman) Shoemaker. Her parents spent 
 their later years of life in Middleburg, where 
 her mother is still living at the age of seventy- 
 five years. Mr. and Mrs. Aiverson have three 
 children; namely, Leonard A., W. Layman, 
 and Otis Ray. 
 
 T^HARLES E. BARRUP,* Postmaster 
 I J| of Esperance, Schoharie County, N.Y. , 
 
 ^ ' was born August 12, 1855, in Car- 
 lisle, this county. His paternal grandfather 
 was a veteran of the War of 181 2, and was at- 
 tached to the staff of General Jackson. 
 
 Charles PI Barruj) received his education in 
 the district schools, which he attended until 
 reaching the age of sixteen years, when he 
 found employment and became self-supporting. 
 In 18S4 he opened a harness shop in Espe- 
 
4i8 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 rancc, and he has since conducted the business 
 very successfully up to the present time. Mi', 
 liarrup has taken a prominent part in town 
 affairs. lie lias twice been elected Town 
 Clerk, and he lias been a member of the 
 County Committee. lie is an active Demo- 
 cratic worker, and has dnnc much to advance 
 the cause of his jxirty locall)-. lie is a mem- 
 ber of Schoharie Lodge, F. & A. M. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. J3arrLip was united in marriage 
 with Miss Sarah Reed, daughter of Henry 
 Reed, of Esperance. Mr. Harrup's mother is 
 a descendant of the family of Shafers that 
 fij;in'ed largely in the earliei' history of .Scho- 
 harie County. Her grandfather and her great- 
 graiulfathei' were [iromincnt in the constiuc- 
 tiiin of the Lutheran church of Cobleskill, 
 which some .six years ago celebrated its cen- 
 tenn ial. 
 
 AMKS L. UTTLR,* the leading farmer 
 of Oak Hill, Uurhani, and owner, on a 
 large scale, of Western real estate, was 
 born at ()ak Hill, on the spot where he now 
 resides, on May 20, i S46, sou ni Isaac and 
 Mary A. (Niles) lUter. The farm of which 
 he is now the owner has been in his famih' for 
 three generations, his great-grandfather, James 
 Utter, a Re\'oluti<inary soldier, having settled 
 here when the country around was a wilderness. 
 He came here with his wife and son James 
 from Saybrook, Conn., in the spring of 1783, 
 and built a log cabin. Some years later, 
 after he had cleared some land, he built a 
 fraiiK' house, which stood until 1894, when it 
 was burned. 
 
 The .second James Utter was born in Sav- 
 brook,Conn., and came here with his mother 
 on horseback. He was brought up on the 
 farm, and in 1806 he built a house for himself 
 where his grandson's house is now standing. 
 He kei)t increasing his farm by bu)-ing adjoin- 
 ing land, and becaiiH' a \'ery pros|ierous man. 
 In Januai')-, 1837, when he was only fift}-si\ 
 years old, he slipped on the ice and broke his 
 hi].i, and on the igth of the month died tioin 
 the effects. His wife, to whom he was mar- 
 ried on No\emher 26, 1805, bore him si.\ 
 children, none of whom are now lixing. Her 
 maiden name was j'^li/abeth Post. .She was a 
 Presbyterian, and her husband was a l^aptist. 
 
 Isaac Utter, abo\'e nameti, son of James, 
 second, and l'',li/.al)eth, was born on I_)eceml)er 
 19, 1808, ami died on his si.\ty-fourth birth 
 da\-. He alwa\s li\ed on the homestead, with 
 the exception of four )ears which he sjient 
 elsewhere. He was interested in real estate 
 in the West, particul.irh- in Wisconsin, where 
 he owned considerable land and held farms on 
 mortgages. Politically, he was a Republican. 
 
 He was a liberal contiiluitor to the Metli- 
 odist church, of which both he and his wife 
 were members; and for man\- years he was one 
 of its most honored trustees. He took a |irom- 
 inent part in public affairs in the town, and 
 was one of its Siiijervisors from the time of its 
 incorporation. His wife, who was one of a 
 family of ten children, w.is a daughter of Sam- 
 uel Niles, wdio moved to Oak Hill when she 
 was a young girl, and spent the remainder of 
 his life here. Mrs. Utter resides with her son 
 James, wlio is her only child. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 419 
 
 Mr. James letter's house, whieh is one of 
 the finest in the county, was built by his 
 father and himself and under their daily 
 supervision. It was built entirely by the day, 
 and is of the best possible workmanship. The 
 son furnished the plans and gave suggestions 
 for interior decorating and finishing. The 
 decorations were made from exclusive designs, 
 and are really works of art. There are twenty 
 large and full)' furnished rooms, some of them 
 measuring fourteen by fifteen feet. 
 
 Mr. Utter was educated in the common 
 schools, Greenville Academy, and a select 
 school in Durham. After his father's death 
 he then became ]Moprietor of the homestead 
 estate, which consisted of a himclred and ten 
 acres. Since then he has bought some forty 
 acres adjoining and eighty more on the moun- 
 tain. He keeps seven horses and twenty-three 
 head of cattle of Jersey stock, and makes butter 
 for the New York markets. He cuts a large 
 amount of ha}', the annual crop sometimes 
 reaching eighty tons; and, though he has Ijuilt 
 two new barns recently, he is still often 
 obliged to stack some of it out of doors. He 
 keeps two men employed the year through. 
 Mr. Utter is a proficient carpenter himself, 
 and has built a number of the buiklings on his 
 place, though others he hired built. His 
 tenant house, near his own residence, is an 
 example of his own workmanship. 
 
 In 18S3 Mr. Utter went into the enterprise 
 of buying land in the West, and he has 
 continued to buy until he now has about seven 
 thousand acres there. Of this he tills some 
 si.\' hundred acres, raising large crops of corn. 
 
 wheat, and oats. h) looking after his inter- 
 ests he has made many trips West, particu- 
 larly to Dakota and Michigan, where his land 
 is situated. He is one of the directors in the 
 North American Loan and Trust Company of 
 New York City, which has a paid-up capital 
 of over half a million and a surplus fund of a 
 hundretl thousand dollars. 
 
 Mr. Utter married in 187 1 Dora Kelsey, 
 only child of Hiram Kelsey, a leading farmer 
 of Albany County. Although he is an ardent 
 Republican and takes active part in all politi- 
 cal matters, attending State and county con- 
 ventions as delegate, he refuses to accept pub- 
 lic office. He is a member of the Methodist 
 church, while Mrs. Utter is a Baptist. For 
 many years he has been a church trustee. 
 Mr. Utter is a hard worker, and everything 
 about his place is kept in the best of repair. 
 He is one of the best known men in the 
 comity. 
 
 2)yENRY C. GETTER,* of Middleburg, 
 N.Y., one of the leading lawyers of 
 Schoharie County, was born on 
 June 16, 1857. His father, David Getter, 
 was born in Schoharie. His grandfather 
 Getter, who was a native of Germany, came to 
 this country when a boy, and settled at Central 
 Bridge, Schoharie. He was an e.xpert handi- 
 craftsman, and followed the trades of gunsmith 
 and clock-maker. A large number of clocks 
 made by him are still in running order. He 
 lived to be ninety-eight years of age, and his 
 mental faculties were well preserved to the 
 
420 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 last. Mis wife attained the age of ninety- 
 three. 
 
 David Getter ^lew to manhood at Central 
 Bridge, where he was i^orn, and in liis youth 
 learned the trade of blacksmith. Coming to 
 Middleburg when he was of age, he set up his 
 forge, and, starting in business for himself, 
 continued actively engaged over fifty years. 
 For a long ])eriod his was the onl\' smithy in 
 the town. Me was an abolitionist and a Re- 
 l)uljliean in politics. His vote was the only 
 one cast for Fremont in his district, and four 
 years later he was one of three to vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln. A reader and a thinker, 
 he was highly respected as a man of sterling 
 integrity and sound judgment, as well as of 
 strong convictions and more than average self- 
 reliance. In religion he was a devoted Meth- 
 odi.st, for twenty years superintendent of the 
 Sunday-school and for thirty-five years class 
 leader. His house was a home for Methodist 
 ministers who came that way, and many a 
 weary circuit rider tliere found shelter and re- 
 freshment. David Getter married Harriet 
 Efner, daughter of Harvey Efner, formerly of 
 Palmer, Monroe County. She is still living, 
 being now past eighty years of age. Her 
 father lived to the age of ninet\-three years, 
 and was then next to the oldest Free Mason in 
 the State. Mrs. Getter has three children 
 now living; namely, Harvey, Jerome, and 
 Henry C. Two — Charles and Madison — are 
 deceased. 
 
 Henry C. Getter obtained his early educa- 
 tion in the common schools, and at a jirivate 
 school taught by Professor James Edniondson, 
 
 now principal of a college in Missouri. He 
 studied law with Messrs. .Sandford & Thorn, 
 was admitted to the liar, and then went tn Kal- 
 amazoo, Mich., antl was there for a time with 
 Briggs & Burroughs. Returning East, he 
 formed in 1883 a partnership witii William IT. 
 Engle, which still continues, this law firm 
 being now the oUlest in the county and Mr. 
 lingle the oldest lawyer in the State. Besides 
 doing a large amoimt of office work, they have 
 an extensive practice in the various courts of 
 the State, including the Court of A])peals. 
 
 Mr. Getter married Mary E., daughter of 
 Albert Sawyer and grand-daughter of Dr. 
 Moses Saw\'er, formerly of Fulton. Her 
 father was a farmer in I'ulton. He died at 
 the age of thirty-seven, leaving two children. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Getter have one child, Jennie 
 L. , who is now in the high school. Mr. 
 Getter resided in P'ulton up to 1S97, when he 
 removed to Middleburg. 
 
 Mr. Getter is a Republican in jxilitics. He 
 has been candidate for District Attorney, for 
 County Judge, and for Supervisor, and has as- 
 sisted to reduce the Democratic majority in 
 the county. He is a member of the I. (). (). 1*'. 
 of Middleburg. Mrs. Getter attends the Meth- 
 odist church, and he contributes to its support. 
 
 —♦-••-•-♦— 
 
 J. BRIAVSTER, M.D.,* of North 
 Blenheim, N.Y., was born in Scot- 
 land, .Albany County, January 8, 1863, son of 
 William J. and Margaret (Ramsey) Urewster. 
 On the ])atciiial side he traces his ancestr)', we 
 are told, to Elder William Brewster, of the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 421 
 
 "Mayflower" and Plymouth Colony. His 
 grandfather, who was born in 1795, and died 
 in 1841, operated a carding-mill in Schoharie 
 County. His grandmother Brewster's maiden 
 name was Silence Gallup. 
 
 William J. Brewster, the Doctor's father, 
 was born in Albany County, in February, 
 1839. His education was completed at Scho- 
 harie Academy ; and he taught school fur a 
 number of years in Schoharie County, where 
 he also engaged in farming. His wife, Mar- 
 garet, was the daughter of a prominent farmer 
 and leading public official of Gilboa, who was 
 of Scotch descent. Dr. Brewster's parents 
 were members of the Reformed Church of 
 Gallupvillc, and his father took much interest 
 in church matters. He died April 13, 1883. 
 
 W. J. Brewster obtained his elementary ed- 
 ucation in the common schools, pursued more 
 advanced studies at Schoharie Academy, and 
 then by teaching school earned money enough 
 to enable him to take the course at the Normal 
 School, where he was graduated. His medical 
 studies were begun under a private instructor, 
 and continued at the University Medical Col- 
 lege and at ]5ellevue Hospital Medical College. 
 He took special courses in the laboratory, and 
 a very thorough course in surgery. He was 
 graduated a Doctor of Medicine in i8go, and 
 then went to North Stratford, Coos County, 
 N. H., where he was in practice till his health 
 failed. After a season of rest and recupera- 
 tion he came in 1897 to North Blenheim, 
 where he is now settled. He is a well-edu- 
 cated physician, and has a good country prac- 
 tice. While in New Hampshire he was a 
 
 specialist in orthopedic surgery, in which he 
 has done some remarkable work. He was a 
 Health Officer in New Hampshire, and served 
 also as County Coroner. He was a member 
 of Coos County (New Hampshire) Medical So- 
 ciety, being later a member of the Schoharie 
 County Society. He is a member of Scho- 
 harie Valley Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 491. 
 He has written valuable papers for various 
 medical journals. He is a Republican in 
 politics. 
 
 Dr. Brewster married Emily E. Earle, of 
 Valleyfield, Province of Quebec, Canada, and 
 has one child. 
 
 AMES FROST,* formerly a prominent 
 citizen of Mariahville, in the town of 
 Duanesburg, N.Y., was born in Wash- 
 ington County, this State, August 4, 1783, 
 son of Lot and Temperance (Semen) Frost. 
 He was a descendant in the fifth generation of 
 William Frost, first, a native of Hampshire, 
 England, and a Quaker, who came to America 
 and settled in Boston, but on account of the 
 religious intolerance of that time was obliged 
 to seek a home elsewhere, and accordingly re- 
 moved to Long Island. He married Rebecca, 
 daughter of Nicholas Wright. William Frost, 
 second, the next in line of descent, who was 
 born on Long Island about the year 1647, and 
 resided there until his death, married Hannah 
 Trior. 
 
 f^enjamin Frost, son of William, second, 
 and grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 was born June 9, 17 19, and spent the greater 
 
422 
 
 BI OGR A I^ H I C A L R E V I KW 
 
 ])ait (if liis active life in Dutcliess Count)-, 
 New ^'llri<. lie married Rose Springer. 
 Their son Lot, father of James, was born in 
 Dutchess Count)', March i, 1744. He was a 
 resident for some years of Washington County, 
 whence he moved to Duanesburg, tai<ing up his 
 residence on (Juaker Street, a locality settled 
 by the I-"riends' Societ)' at an early date, and 
 which is still known b)' that name. His wife, 
 Temperance, was born on August 30, 1744- 
 
 James Frcst accompanied his parents from 
 Washington Count)' to Duanesburg. He re- 
 ceived a good education, and taught sciiool in 
 his younger days, but relinc|uished that occu- 
 pation to become a survevor, in which capacity 
 he jjcrformed much work (if an important char- 
 acter. He projected and comi)leted a plank 
 road from Albany to l-'ort Hunter, and drafted 
 one of the earlier maps of Schenectady County. 
 In 1833-34 he surveyed the new line between 
 Canada and New York State, as well as the 
 greater part of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin 
 Counties, tlien a wilderness. With his associ- 
 ates he camped out for weeks and months at a 
 time. At night the wolves howled around 
 them, and were kept at bay only by fires. 
 That section of the State, the Adirondack 
 region, is now a famous place of resort in sum- 
 mer. In iSkj he began a survey of the east 
 sliore of tJK- Hudson River, uiuler the direction 
 of the .Surveyor General, traversing the river by 
 sloojj and making numerous soundings. He 
 also surveyeil the ground f(ir tiie secimd rail- 
 road built in the United States, that between 
 Alban\' and Schenectady, and surveyed and 
 made maps ui all did .Schdhaiie, besides other 
 
 territory. In 1S35 he surve)ed lands in 1-niza- 
 bethtown (now Elizabeth City), N.J., belong- 
 ing to Messrs. Conner, Bryant & Crane of that 
 ])lace, and Clark and others of New York, and 
 made maps of the city. Subsequently, remov- 
 ing from Ouakcr Street, to the nortlierly part 
 of the town of Duanesburg, about two miles 
 west of Mariahville, he engaged in farming, 
 and also conducted a general store. Possess- 
 ing an unusual amount of energ)' and ability, 
 which made him es])eciall\- eligible to the pub- 
 lic service, he tudk a leading part in tnwn 
 affairs, was [jarticularly interested in educa- 
 tional matters, acted as a Justice of the Peace 
 for man\' wars, and was a member of the As- 
 sembl) thiee terms. Political!)', he was a 
 stanch supporter of the Whig party. Though 
 reared a Ouaker, he was liberal in his relig- 
 ious (iiiinions, and in his later )'ears favored 
 the Universalist belief. He died at his home 
 in Mariahville, December 23, iiS5i, and his 
 death was the cause of general regret. 
 
 James P'rost married Mary Marsh, who was 
 bdi'ii in Canaan, Conn., (Jctober 24, I7<S7, 
 daughter of Silas Marsh. She was a good bus- 
 iness woman, anil rendered valuable assistance 
 to ii(.'r husbanii by carrying on the store while 
 lu' was absent (in surve)'iug trijis. She became 
 the mother of ten ciiildren — five sons and five 
 daughters — all (if wlioni grew to maturit)', and 
 two aie living, namely: (General D. M. Purest, 
 a graduate of the Cnited States Military Acad- 
 eni)' at West I'dint, and now a prominent resi- 
 dent of .St. Louis, Md. ; and Miss M. Louise 
 l''nist. Ceneral b'rost had a large famih" of 
 ifirls, three df wiidm married p]nLriish Udble- 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 423 
 
 men. One of them is now living in Paris. 
 The others are in England. Miss M. Louise 
 Frost, who is a lady of superior attainments, 
 resides at the homestead during summer, and 
 passes her winters in the South. The other 
 children of James and Mary (Marsh) Frost 
 were: Caroline, Adelia D., Silas W., Ro- 
 sanna, James, William M., John S. , and 
 Phcebe A. The mother died August 18, 1864. 
 The sons nearly all studied and followed engi- 
 neering. John S. , who was a lawyer, died in 
 1857. 
 
 (ffJtOHN H. PUTNAM, who carries on 
 farming and market gardening in Nis- 
 kayuna, was born in this town, June 15, 
 1 8 16. His parents, Harmon and Margaret 
 (Wheaton) Putnam, were natives of this 
 county. His paternal grandfather, John Put- 
 nam, was an early settler here and a noted 
 hunter in his day. He afterward resided in 
 various places, and died in Greene, Chenango 
 County, at an advanced age. 
 
 Harmon Putnam, the father, followed the 
 carpenter's trade during his active period. 
 He was married in Niskayuna, which was 
 thenceforward his place of residence. He 
 was a reliable workman, and as an honest, in- 
 dustrious citizen he stood high in the estima- 
 tion of the entire community. He died at 
 the age of si.xty years. Margaret Wheaton 
 Putnam, his wife, died at the age of twenty- 
 seven. She was the mother of four children, 
 of whom John H., the subject of this sketch, 
 was the first-born, and is the only one living. 
 
 Reuben and Jacob died young, and the other 
 died in infancy. 
 
 John H. Putnam was educated in the town 
 schools of Niskayuna. At an early age he 
 began work as an assistant on the farm he now 
 occupies, which was then owned by one John 
 Clark, and he afterward worked for other 
 farmers in the neighborhood. When seven- 
 teen years old he began an apprenticeship at 
 the carpenter's trade, which was his occupa- 
 tion for thirty years, or until 1864. In 1S76 
 he bought his present farm of seventy acres, 
 which he has greatly improved, and has since 
 been engaged in general farming. 
 
 On February 28, 1839, Mr. Putnam was 
 joined in marriage with Mary Ann Van 
 Vranken, of Niskayuna, daughter of Jacob 
 Van Vranken and a representative of an old 
 family of this town. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam 
 have one son living, Jacob, who was born 
 January i, 1846, and is engaged in farming 
 with his father. He married Gertrude Mc- 
 Chessen, and has four children — John, Mar- 
 garet A., Julia, and Lena. 
 
 Since the breaking out of the Southern re- 
 bellion in April, 1861, Mr. Putnam has voted 
 with the Republican party. He has served 
 with ability as Supervisor and Town Clerk, 
 each two terms. He was Highway Commis- 
 sioner five years, and has been a Justice of the 
 Peace. He is a Master Mason and one of 
 the oldest members of St. George Lodge, 
 No. 6, F. & A. M., of Schenectady, having 
 joined the order in 1S55. Mr. and Mrs. Put- 
 nam are members of the Dutch Reformed 
 church. 
 
424 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 ADISON YOUNG,* for a number 
 
 of years a prominent figure in the 
 public affairs of Carlisle, Scho- 
 harie County, N. Y., was born in this town, 
 September 20, 1846, son of Benjamin and 
 Lana (Van Vaulkenburgh) Young. His groat- 
 grandfather was Peter Young, a German, who 
 came here from Hudson, N.Y. , as a pioneer, 
 and acquired possession of two separate tracts 
 of land, the whole amounting to three hundred 
 and ten acres. His log cabin stood about 
 twenty-five rods west of the Rock School- 
 house. He was a successful farmer, and his 
 property, which was unencumbered at the time 
 of his death, he divided among his children. 
 
 Matthias Young, Madison Young's grand- 
 father, whose birth took place January 20, 
 1763, was the first white child born in Car- 
 lisle. Receiving a share of his father's prop- 
 erty, he erected a frame house, and carried on 
 general farming until his death, which oc- 
 curred May 21, 1822. He was actively inter- 
 ested in political and religious affairs, held 
 some of the important town ofifices, and was 
 one of the leading members of the Dutch Re- 
 formed church. He married Helena Patria, 
 who was of German descent, and she died 
 March 14, 1824. They were the parents of 
 five children; namely, Solomon, Benjamin, 
 Richard, Margaret, and Lana. The great- 
 grandfather served in the war of the Revolu- 
 tion, and the grandfather in that of 18 12. 
 
 Benjamin Young, Madison Young's father, 
 was born October 20, 1800. He succeeded to 
 the possession of about eighty acres of his 
 father's property when a young man, antl cul- 
 
 tivated his farm energetically for the rest of 
 his life. He died in October, 1869. He was 
 the father of six children: Helena, wife of J. 
 Rose; Margaret, wife of Demosthenes Young; 
 Sarah M., who married Adam Cole; l'>a A., 
 widow of Abraham Hurnstein; Madison, the 
 subject of this sketch; and Frances M., wife 
 of K. C. Grantier. 
 
 Madison Young acquired a district-school 
 education, and his aptitude for learning 
 enabled him to attain unusual proficiency in 
 his studies. He assisted in carrying on the 
 home farm until after the death of his father, 
 when he turned his attention to educational 
 work, and taught school with marked success 
 during the following eighteen years, with the 
 exception of one term, the greater part of the 
 time being spent in this and the adjacent 
 localities. For the first term of teaching he 
 received one dollar per day, after that two 
 dollars a day, very few then receiving so high a 
 salary. Finally becoming tired of the arduous 
 as well as monotonous duties of a pedagogue, 
 he resumed farming at the homestead, which 
 contains about eighty acres of well-improved 
 land; and, though not inclined to force its 
 yielding power, he nevertheless raises excel- 
 lent crops. 
 
 As one of the foremost leaders of the Dem- 
 ocratic party in this section, he has long 
 maintained a wide influence in public affairs, 
 and enjoys the confidence of all voters irre- 
 spective of politics. His long and faithful 
 service to the county was characterized by a 
 judicious ex|)cncliture of public funds and an 
 earnest desire to promote the best interests of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 42s 
 
 the people. As chairman of the Committees 
 on Printing and on Ratio and Apportionment 
 during his two years as Supervisor, he greatly 
 reduced the expenses of these departments, 
 and by close figuring was able to effect con- 
 siderable retrenchment in other branches of 
 the service. 
 
 Mr. Young married for his first wife Eliza- 
 beth Hrounnaghin and for his second Nettie 
 Hilsinger. He has no children. In his re- 
 ligious views he is liberal. 
 
 ILLIAM H. NEVILLE,* a repre- 
 sentative citizen of Middleburg, 
 N. Y. , and a man of varied business interests, 
 was born in the house which is now his home 
 on August 6, 1867, son of Jacob and Jane E. 
 (Shafer) Neville. His grandfather, William 
 Neville, was a pioneer settler in Sharon, and 
 died there at an advanced age, leaving a large 
 family. 
 
 Jacob Neville, one of the youngest of the 
 children of William, was born in Sharon on 
 August 21, 1827, and died in Middleburg in 
 1 89 1. He was for many years closely identi- 
 fied with the growth of this town, and was one 
 of the leaders in every worthy enterprise started 
 here. His boyhood days were passed on the 
 farm in Sharon, and early in life he assisted 
 in the family support. His career in mercan- 
 tile affairs began at the time he went into a 
 store in Sharon Hill as clerk. At twenty- 
 three years of age he came to Middleburg and 
 entered the general merchandise store of the 
 old firm of Becker & Beckman. So valuable 
 
 did he make himself in the conduct of the busi- 
 ness that upon the retirement of Mr. Beckman 
 he became a partner in the concern, which 
 thereupon assumed the name of Becker, Neville 
 & Co. They were the leading merchants of 
 the town, and had a large trade in all the sur- 
 rounding country. In time Mr. Becker sold 
 his interest in the business to Mr. Hoag, and 
 the film name became Neville & Hoag. Later 
 Mr. Hoag sold out to Mr. J. L. Engel, and 
 still later a brother of the latter, Mr. A. B. 
 Engel, was admitted to partnership. The 
 business was then continued up to 1889 under 
 the name of Neville, Engel & Co. Upon Mr. 
 Neville's retirement in 1S89, the firm became 
 Engel Brothers, and as such has continued in 
 business to the present time. 
 
 Among the various enterprises in the accom- 
 plishment of which Jacob Neville was an im- 
 portant factor may be mentioned the follow- 
 ing: the Middleburg & Schoharie Railroad; 
 the First National Bank and later the bank 
 building; and the Union school-house build- 
 ing, which is one of the finest in the county. 
 He was a large stockholder in the railroad 
 organization, and was a director and the vice- 
 president until his death. He was al.so a di- 
 rector in the bank as long as he lived. Politi- 
 cally, he was a Democrat, and frequent ajipeals 
 were made to him to accept public office. 
 From 18S5 to i88g, under Mr. Cleveland's 
 administration, he was Postmaster of Middle- 
 burg; and, had not his death prevented, his 
 friends would undoubtedly have elected him to 
 the Assembly for the session of 1892-93. He 
 was for many years an Elder in the Lutheran 
 
426 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 church, and generously assisted the church 
 hnlh by financial and by moral support. 
 
 His marriage occurred in January, 1S64. 
 His wife was the daughter of William and 
 Maria (Gridley) Shafer, and grand-daughter of 
 Josejih GridJey, who was one of Washington's 
 body-guard. William Shafer was born in 
 Blenheim, and was a lifeU)ng resident there. 
 He owned a number of dwelling-houses and 
 farms, and dealt (|uite extensively in real es- 
 tate, besides carrying on general farming. As 
 a business man he was very successful. He 
 died at the age of eighty-two. His wife, who 
 died at the age of si.xty-four, was a native of 
 Middleburg. Of tJic lour children born to 
 them three are living, namely: Mrs. Neville, 
 who resides with her son on the faini settled 
 by her ancestors; Margaret, who is the wife of 
 George Brockway, of Chicago; and Nancy. 
 The last named married A. J. Freneyer, of 
 Albany, who for many years managed the 
 Freneyer House in Middleburg. 
 
 William H. Neville obtained his education 
 in the luiblic schools of Middleburg and at 
 Albany Academy. Leaving the latter after 
 four years of study there, he entered the post- 
 office, his father then being Postmaster, and 
 for tlie succeeding four years he had practical 
 charge of the office. Upon the expiration of 
 his fatiier's term he went into the store as 
 clerk, and afterward he went to Albany as 
 clerk in the insurance office of W. C. Rose. 
 Still later he became interested in the Bran- 
 dow Printing Company, of Albany, but when 
 the ])]ant was burned he returned to Middle- 
 burg, where he took charge of his father's 
 
 affairs until the death of the latter. Shortly 
 after this event the son bought the Middleburg 
 Gazette, of which he continued to be the pro- 
 prietor for three years. Since selling out in 
 1895, he has occujiicd himself with jonking 
 after his own and his mother's real estate in- 
 terests, and in doing some general farming and 
 hop-raising. As he has a large real estate 
 property, including a luunber of farms, he has 
 little chance to be idle. He also retains an 
 interest in the Brandow I'linling Company, 
 which has been reorganized since the fire. 
 Besides this he is a stockholder in the Middle- 
 burg & Schoharie Railroad, in the projected 
 road to Catskill, ant! in the National Bank. 
 He is a director in the Middleburg Telephone 
 Company and treasurer of the high school. 
 For three years he was Village Clerk, and for 
 a number of years he served on the Board of 
 Education. Politically, he is a Democrat, 
 and for two years was a member of the county 
 committee. 
 
 Mr. Neville was married on June 22, 1893, 
 to Maud I'2. Lewis, who was born in Gilboa. 
 She is the daughter of Oscar and Agnes 
 (Strickland) Lewis. Her father is now one of 
 the most prominent stock farmers in Cones- 
 ville. Mrs. Neville's two brothers, Messrs. 
 Frank and Ra)-mond Lewis, are interested in 
 the stock farm in comjiany with their father. 
 Mrs. Neville graduated from the Normal 
 School, and taught before her marriage in the 
 grammar school in Middleburg. She is the 
 mother of one son, Donald. Mrs. Neville is a 
 member of the Lutheran church, and her hus- 
 band is an attendant of the Sunday services. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 427 
 
 Mr. Neville belongs to the Masonic organiza- 
 tions here; to La Bastile Lodge, No. 494, 
 I. O. O. F. , and Encam]3ment No. 129; also 
 to the order of Red Men. He has been Chief 
 Patriarch of the encampment for one year. 
 
 jHARLES MANN,* one of the must 
 able and jirogressive agriculturists of 
 .Schoharie County, owns and occu- 
 pies a well-appointed farm in Fulton, not far 
 from the village of Breakabeen. He was born 
 in this town, November 2, 1856. He is a son 
 of the late Almon Mann, and comes of hardy 
 New England stock, his grandfather, Thomas 
 Mann, having been born and bred in Vermont. 
 From his hillside home in the Green Moun- 
 tains Thomas removed to Albany County, New 
 York, while yet a young man, and in the newer 
 country cleared and parti}' improved a farm. 
 Coming then to Schoharie County from Berne, 
 he spent his remaining days in Fulton, living 
 until eighty-six years old. 
 
 Almon Mann was born in Berne, N. Y. , but 
 removed with his jjarents to Fulton when a 
 boy, and was there reared to man's estate. 
 After completing his education, he worked as 
 a farm laborer imtil ready to settle in life, 
 when he bought land, which he cultivated 
 some years. Prior to his death, however, at 
 the age of sixty-six years, he removed to the 
 village of Breakabeen. A consistent member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, he held 
 many of the offices in that organization, and 
 was connected with its Sunday-schooJ. His 
 wife, whose maiden name was Maria Chapman, 
 
 is living at Breakabeen, an active woman of 
 sixty-four years. She was born in Fulton, the 
 daughter of Jacob Chapman. She is a sister 
 of William W. Chapman, whose sketch may 
 be found on another page of this volume. She 
 has twelve children, as follows: Alice, living 
 in Amsterdam; Jacob H., who has been School 
 Commissioner of Schoharie nine years; Theron 
 H. ; Charles; Ro.se E. ; Wellington; Lilly; 
 Irving; Julia; Hattie; Josiah ; and Manley B. 
 Charles Mann acquired his early education 
 in Fulton and Middleburg. After leaving the 
 parental roof he made his home with an uncle, 
 and for three or more terms taught school, a 
 part of the time being thus employed in Rich- 
 mondville. On marrying he bought and took 
 possession of his present farm of one hundred 
 and fifty acres, formerly known as the Burgh 
 farm, where he has since been profitabl}' en- 
 gaged in general farming and dairying. In 
 the latter industr\- he is very successful, hav- 
 ing a well-selected herd of Guernsey and Jersey 
 cattle. On the estate he has made improve- 
 ments of an excellent character, havine: brought 
 the larger part of the land to a high state of 
 cultivation, erected nearly all the buildings on 
 the jilace, and furnished it with the latest ap- 
 proved modern farm machinery and imple- 
 ments. He has built a silo, which he con- 
 siders a good investment for a dairy farmer, 
 and he uses a separator in his dair\'. Mr. 
 Mann reads the leading journals devoted to 
 agriculture, and he is himself a frequent con- 
 tributor to the home and agricultural depart- 
 ments of various papers, including the New- 
 York Homestead Txnd the Utica Press. He is 
 
428 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 an active member of the New Vork State 
 Grange, in wliich he has served as lecturer 
 several terms. In July, 1898, he jiassed the 
 required examinations for a milk expert in 
 Albany. In [xilitics he is an unswerving 
 Democrat, and has been nominated as Assessor. 
 A valued member of the Lutheran Church of 
 l^reakabeen, he has held the position of treas- 
 urer and secretary, and fur many years has been 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school connected 
 with it. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Mann married Miss Bertha Ter- 
 pening, who was born in Princetown, Schenec- 
 tady County, daughter of Henry H. Terpening, 
 a farmer of that town. Mr. and Mrs. Mann 
 have four cliilclren. 
 
 TANTON OSTERHOUT,* one of 
 the stirring farmers of Carlisle, 
 Schoharie County, was born in this 
 town. May 20, 1852, son of Jacob and Hetsey 
 K. (Kniskern) Osterhout. His paternal grand- 
 father, Abraham Osterhout, a native of Hol- 
 land, immigrated to New York when young, 
 and coming from Dutchess County, this State, 
 to West Carlisle, settled u|)on a tract of land 
 containing about two hundred and fifty acres. 
 A sturdy pioneer, lie improved his kilid into a 
 good farm, and he took an active jiart in the 
 affairs of the Dutch Reformed church in his 
 neighborhood. He was twice married, and b\- 
 both of his wives had chil(lri.'n. Those of 
 his secfjnd union were: Jacob A., George, 
 Chauncy, Sarah, and Catherine. George, who 
 was quite active in politiciil aff:iirs, diet! in 
 
 1862, aged forty-five years. Chauncy, who 
 was engaged in business in Cobleskill, died ia 
 1872. Sarah is the widow of David V. Brown. 
 Catherine, who married J. J. l^rowii, died in 
 1 87s. 
 
 Jacob A. Osterhout, Stanton Ostcrhout's 
 father, was a lifelong resident of Carlisle. 
 After iiis father's tleath he and one of his 
 brotiiers bought the homestead. He was one 
 of the first farmers in the town to ensasre in 
 the raising of liops, which he produced quite 
 extensively, and he also made a specialty of 
 hay and grain. He owned about four hundred 
 acres of land. He was prominent and influen- 
 tial in town and e(iunt\' ]iolitics, took a con- 
 spicuous part in the various conventions, but 
 would not accept office. His religious jirefer- 
 ence was for the Dutch Reformeil churcii. He 
 was the father of seven children, namely: 
 Josiah ; Stanton, the subject of this sketch; 
 Wilson; Alfred; Albert; Klmira; and Melissa. 
 Josiah died at the age of eighteen; Melissa 
 married Daniel IMickle; l^lmira married 
 Aaron Young; Alfred is residing at the home- 
 stead; and the others are engaged in farming 
 in this town. 
 
 Stanton Osterhout was educated in the dis- 
 trict school. He assisted his father in farm- 
 ing until after his marriage, wiien he purchased 
 the ijroijcrty known as the Young estate, which 
 was formerly owned by his father. This farm, 
 which originally consisted of one hundred and 
 fift}-fi\e acres, he lias enlargetl liy tin- atMition 
 of adjoining land. He di\ides his t iine iietween 
 da/ry farming and the cultivation of ho|)s. 
 He keeps from twentv-five to tiiirt\- head of 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 429 
 
 Holstein cattle, besides other blooded stock, 
 and is a member of the American Holstein 
 Association. 
 
 He has served as Supervisor for at least two 
 terms, was chairman of the Committees on 
 Printing, Town Accounts, and Equalization, 
 and by judicious management succeeded in 
 making a considerable reduction in public ex- 
 penditures. He has served as Highway Com- 
 missioner one year, and upon the Democratic 
 County Committee several terms. He was 
 in.strumental in establishing the Farmers' In- 
 surance Company of Seward, Carlisle, and 
 Cobleskill ; was one of the organizers, and is 
 director and treasurer, of the Hop Insurance 
 Company; is local agent for the Sharon, Car- 
 lisle, and Seward Insurance companies, and for 
 the hop company. 
 
 Mr. Osterhout married Josephine Hilsinger, 
 daughter of William Hilsinger. They have 
 had three children — Orson, Elva, and Emory. 
 Elva married Homer Karher. Orson died July 
 II, 1891, aged twenty years and seven months. 
 
 Mr. Osterhout belongs to Cobleskill Lodge, 
 No. 394, is vice-president of the local agricult- 
 ural society, a charter member of the grange, 
 and a member of other organizations. He at- 
 tends the Dutch Reformed church, but contrib- 
 utes liberally toward the support of other relig- 
 ious denominations. 
 
 (slYOSEPH B. GRAHAM,* e.x-Mayor of 
 Schenectady, N. Y. , was born in 
 Rossie, St. Lawrence County, .his 
 
 State, September 27, 1830, son of William 
 
 and Janet (Eairbairn) Graham. His father 
 was born in Wigton, near Carlisle, tlngland, 
 June 6, 1806, and his mother was a native of 
 Scotland. 
 
 Joseph Graham, the grandfather of Joseph 
 11, was born in Wigton about the year 1767. 
 He was a saddler by trade, and carried on busi- 
 ness there until meeting with reverses. In 
 April, 1 819, he sailed from Liverpool with 
 his wife and eleven children, landing at Que- 
 bec in the following June. With his small 
 means he purchased a tract of wild land in 
 Wilna, Jefferson County, N.Y., and with the 
 assistance of his five sturdy sons he cleared a 
 good farm, upon which he resided for the rest 
 of his life. He died in 1841, and his wife, 
 who survived him, died in Lowville, N.Y. , 
 on her eightieth birthday, while visiting her 
 daughter. They had five sons and si.x daugh- 
 ters. One of the latter, who was taken ill 
 v^hile on the passage from England, died soon 
 after landing. The first and third sons set- 
 tled near St. Catherine's, Canada. The 
 others located in this State, married, and 
 reared large families. All lived to an ad- 
 vanced age, and Margaret, the youngest, died 
 in Carthage, N.Y. , at the age of eighty years. 
 The grandparents were members of the Church 
 of England, but, through the influence of the 
 itinerant Methodist preachers who visited 
 the outlying districts in those early, days, 
 their children were converted to that faith. 
 
 William Graham, the father, was educated 
 in England, and was an apt scholar, especially 
 in mathematics. When nineteen years old he 
 began teaching school in the Scotch settle- 
 
43° 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 mcnt near Wilna, but his jirincipal business 
 was the furnishing of plans ami specifications 
 to contractors for heavy mason work, bridge 
 building, and so forth. Me was a highly in- 
 telligent, well-read man, particularly fond of 
 biography and history, and is said to have 
 predicted that slavery in the South would ul- 
 timately cause a civil war. He died No- 
 vember 3, 1858. Jeancttc, his first wife, 
 whom lie married in 1829, was a daughter of 
 James and Mary (Bell) Fairbairn, who came 
 from the neighborhood of Glasgow, Scotland, 
 in 1818, and settled in Rossie, N. Y. They 
 were industrious farming people and sturdy 
 pioneers. They reared one son and five 
 daughters. William Graham by his first mar- 
 riage was the father of eight children, of 
 whom Joseph H., the subject of this sketch, 
 was the eldest. All are living except James, 
 the second-born, who died suddenly in May, 
 1894, aged sixty-two years, leaving two chil- 
 dren. The mother died in 1852, aged forty- 
 two years. Hy a second marriage William 
 Graham had three daughters. 
 
 Joseph II Graham resided with his mater- 
 nal grandparents from his fifth to liis tenth 
 year, and, as they spoke the Scotch dialect, he 
 learned it to perfection. He began his edu- 
 cation in the district schools, and was fitted 
 for college at the Weslcyan Seminary, 
 Gouverneur, N.Y. In order to procure funds 
 for the completion of his studies, he taught in 
 the common schools until 1854, when he en- 
 tered Union College, where he was graduated 
 with honors in 1858. After teaching classics 
 and matliematics at the Stillwater Academy 
 
 for a time, he came to Schenectady, and in 
 company with Mr. F. A. \'oung was engaged 
 for the succeeding eight years in mercantile 
 business, dealing in books, stationery, wall 
 papers, pianofortes, and other musical instru- 
 ments. Selling his interest to his partner, 
 he was out of business for about si.x years, and 
 then engaged in the dry-goods trade as a mem- 
 ber of the firm of T. H. Reeves & Co., from 
 which he withilrew some seven years later. 
 He was for a number of years extensively en- 
 gaged in the real estate business, and, al- > 
 though his activity in that line has somewhat 
 diminished of late, he still owns a large 
 amount of valuable city property, which is oc- 
 cupied by thirty or more tenants. He resides 
 in a substantial house at 6 Nott Terrace, 
 which he built twenty-seven years ago. 
 
 Mr. Graham is a director of the Union Na- 
 tional Bank. In 1879 he became a member 
 of the Mutual Relief Society, under certifi- 
 cate No. 2 12; he was a member of its Roard 
 of Directors for six years; was chairman of 
 the Reserve Fund Committee and of the com- 
 mittee appointed to revise the by-laws; and 
 at the annual convention in 1883 he was 
 unanimously elected vice - president. His 
 connection with the society has been Tnarked 
 by an unusually clear conception of and a 
 conscientious regard for its business inter- 
 ests, and he is considered one of its most val- 
 ued officials. He was twice elected to the 
 Common Council, has been a member of the 
 Boards of Health and luhication, and as 
 Mayor of the city in 1879-80 he managed the 
 munici[)al affairs in a business-like manner. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 431 
 
 On August 8, 185S, Mr. Graham was united 
 in marriage with Cornelia L. White, of this 
 county, daughter of Andrew and Cornelia 
 (De Forest) White. Her father was a native 
 of the north of Ireland, and her mother be- 
 longed to an old Dutch family of this city. 
 She died in 1878, and in 1880 he married for 
 his second wife Sarah li. Hagaman, also of 
 a well-known Uutch family, daughter of 
 Joseph J. and Elizabeth M. Hagaman. He 
 was the father of three children by his first 
 union, namely: Jennie, who died at the age 
 of five; William, who died at the age of one 
 year and six months; and Edward White 
 Graham, who married Abbie Craver, and is 
 now residing in Denver, Col. One child, 
 Mary Hagaman, by his second marriage, is 
 living with her parents. 
 
 Mr. Graham is an active member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, which he has 
 served in an official capacity. He was prom- 
 inently identified with the building of the 
 present edifice, which was completed in 1874, 
 at a cost of eighty thousand dollars, and is a 
 liberal contributor toward its support. He is 
 a member of Union College Chapter of the 
 Phi Beta Kappa Society; has been a trustee 
 of the Troy Conference Academy, Poultney, 
 Vt., continuously since 1S74; '•nd has been 
 president of the board since 1878. He pos- 
 sesses and highly prizes a small writing-desk 
 which was purchased in Englantl for five 
 guineas by his grandfather, who in April, 
 1 8 19, gave it to his son William. In it are 
 some rare specimens of drawings executed by 
 his father when a lad of thirteen years, and 
 
 also some letters received from the father by 
 the son while in college. Mr. Graham re- 
 ceived this heirloom from his father in No- 
 vember, 1S58, just before his father's death. 
 
 fsjtAMES C. McWILLIAMS,* an able 
 farmer and enterprising insurance agent 
 of Prattsville, was born in Kortright, 
 Delaware County, August 4, 1845, son of Jo- 
 seph S. and Mary Ann (Kilpatrick) McWill- 
 iams. His parents were both natives of that 
 town, and he is of Scotch descent. Joseph S. 
 McWilliams learned the blacksmith's trade, 
 which he follnwed until turning his attention 
 to farming; and he was engaged in the latter 
 occupation at the time of his death, which 
 occurred October 27, 1869, at the age of fifty- 
 seven years. He was an upright, conscien- 
 tious man, who possessed considerable natural 
 ability, antl he acquired success in his calling. 
 In politics he was a Republican. He and his 
 wife, Mary Ann McWilliams, were members of 
 the Presbyterian church. They had two sons : 
 John B. , who is no longer living; and James 
 C. , the subject of this sketch. The mother 
 died May 19, 1890, aged seventy-four years. 
 John B. McWilliams enlisted for service in 
 the Civil War while under age, and was re- 
 jected on that account, but when old enough 
 he re-enlisted in Company K, One Hundred 
 and Twentieth Regiment, New York Volun- 
 teers, of which he became Orderly Sergeant. 
 He died in the army at the age of twenty-one 
 years. 
 
 James C. McWilliams started in life for 
 
432 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 himself at the age of sixteen as clerk in the 
 general store of G. C. Fcnn, with whom he re- 
 mained four years. After residing at Red 
 l""alls, N. Y., for a time, he became a tra\elling 
 salesman for a L'tica cigar firm, and a year 
 later he went to New "\'()rk Cit)', where he se- 
 cured a clerkship in a dry-goods store. He 
 was subsequently in the employ of J. S. Con- 
 over, dealer in grates and fenders. After re- 
 siding in the metropolis about five years, he 
 came to Prattsville, where for the next seven 
 years he was engaged in the cooperage busi- 
 ness. Selling out in 1893, he was placed in 
 charge of the post-ofifice, and, being appointed 
 Postmaster by President Cleveland, he contin- 
 ued to serve the community in that capacity 
 uiilii 1897. He is now local agent for several 
 large insurance companies; and he also carries 
 on a small farm, which he devotes to market 
 gardening. He is quite extensively engaged 
 in raising bees, and sells a large quantity of 
 honey annually. Politically, he is a Demo- 
 crat. He has been a Justice of the Peace for 
 twelve consecutive years, was for a number of 
 years Inspector of Election.s, served two terms 
 <in the special license board, and was nomi- 
 nated \>y his party for the presidency of the 
 village, which lie dcclineii to accept. He is 
 sincerely esteemetl as a high-minded, [jublic- 
 spiiitecl citizen. 
 
 In 18(39 ^^r. McWilliams was united in 
 marriage with Elizabeth Decker, his first wife, 
 a native of Roxbury, N.Y. , daughter of Lorin 
 and Sally Ann Decker. Mr. Decker was a 
 ])iiisperi)us larmer and a life-long resident of 
 liiat town. She died, Icaxing one son, Will- 
 
 iam J., a farmer and market gardener, who 
 married Mary Churchill. For his .second 
 wife Mr. James C. McWilliams married Ella 
 Miller, a native of Cairo, N.Y., daughter 
 of Seymour Miller. Her father was for years 
 a widely-known hotel-keeiJer. At one time he 
 was proprietor of the Prattsville House; and, 
 previous to coming here, he kept hotels in 
 Cairo, Windham, and other places. The chil- 
 dren of this union are James E. and Marie. 
 
 Mr. McWilliams was made a Mason over 
 thirty years ago, and is now one of the leading 
 members of Oasis Lodge, in which he has oc- 
 cupied all the important chairs, having been 
 its Worshipful Master for six years in succes- 
 sion. The family attend the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. 
 
 HARLES K. ERAZIER, M.D.,' an 
 able and progressive physician of 
 Cobleskill, Schoharie County, was 
 born in this town, October 17, 1850. He is 
 the son of the late Dr. David PTazier, who was 
 here engaged in the practice of medicine for 
 forty-seven consecutive years. His great- 
 grandfather P'razier came to Cobleskill from 
 Germany in 1776, being one of the early set- 
 tlers of this part of the county. He was here 
 engaged as a tiller of the soil the remainder of 
 his (lays, and here his son John, the father of 
 the elder Doctor, was born and reared. John 
 Frazier was born in that part of Cobleskill 
 that is now kn(]wn as RichnKUuhille, and, 
 ha\'ing succeeded to the occupation ol his 
 father, he was engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 433 
 
 throughout the active period of his life of 
 seventy-eight years. 
 
 David Frazier obtained his elementary edu- 
 cation in the common schools of this town, and 
 was graduated from the Schoharie and Albany 
 Medical Schools. Settling in Cobleskill, he 
 practised his profession with unusual success, 
 having an extensive patronage, and being by 
 far the best-known physician within a radius of 
 twenty miles. He was very influential in 
 local affairs, and besides being one of the 
 members of the first Board of Town Trustees, 
 a position which he filled several years, and 
 Supervisor of the tnwn three terms, he was 
 superintendent of schools a number of years, 
 aiul also Coroner. In politics he was true to 
 the principles in which he was reared, and 
 zealously sujiported the Democratic party. He 
 died in 1894, aged seventy-five years. His 
 wife, Susanna Jenkins, was born and educated 
 in Dover, England, from whence she came with 
 her parents to New York State when a girl. 
 She died September 25, 1897, aged eighty-three 
 years, leaving three children, namely: Eliza- 
 beth; Charles K., the special subject of this 
 sketch ; and Frances, wife of the Rev. George 
 Muller. Both parents were members of the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 Charles K. Frazier received his early educa- 
 tion in the public schools of Cobleskill, and 
 alter taking a course of study at the Albany 
 Acadeni)- he read medicine a while with his 
 father and with Dr. Armsby, of Albany. He 
 was graduated from the Albany Medical Col- 
 lege in 1873, and spent his first year of prac- 
 tice in All^any. He sulisequentl)- pmctiset! 
 
 two years each in Waverly, Tioga County, 
 N. Y. , and l?ig Mats, Chemung County, not 
 far from Elmira. In 1878 he returned to 
 Cobleskill, and in the time that has since in- 
 tervened he has built up a large and lucrative 
 practice. 
 
 He is a sound Democrat, and was formerly 
 quite active in political circles and a regular 
 attendant of primaries and local conventions. 
 In 1877 he was a delegate to the State conven- 
 tion that nominated Horatio Seymour for gov- 
 ernor, and which, on Seymour's refusal of the 
 proffered chair, reconvened at Saratoga, and 
 nominated Robinson, the successful candidate. 
 He has served as Town Clerk, and, having 
 been appointed Coroner to fill out an unex- 
 pired term by his old-time friend, Governor 
 David B. Hill, he has since held the position, 
 having been re-elected for a term of four years 
 in 1S91 and again re-elected for another term 
 in 1895. He is a member of the Schoharie 
 Medical Society, and since 1S95 has been its 
 president. 
 
 In 1874 Dr. Frazier married Miss Rosalia 
 L. Camp, daughter of Nathan Camp, a promi- 
 nent citizen of Campville, Tioga County, 
 where he still resides. Dr. and Mrs. Frazier 
 have one child, Nellie. 
 
 |RS. MARY J. MULFORD,* pro- 
 lirietor of the Mountain Summit 
 House, Tannersville, is a native 
 of New York City. Her parents, John and 
 Mary (Cor.son) Ikaden, were natives of Ire- 
 land, but came to America ])rior to theii' mar- 
 
434 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 riage. Arriving in New York at the age of 
 nineteen, her father secured a jiosition in a 
 store. He subsequently came to Tannersville 
 in the employ of the Edwards Tannery Com- 
 pany, remaining with that concern until it 
 went out of business. After following various 
 occupations, Mr. Braden turned his attention 
 to farming, upon the property now owned and 
 occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Mulford. His 
 death occurred here at the age of seventy years. 
 To him and his wife, Mary, were horn three 
 children — Margaret, Elizabeth, and Mary J., 
 the subject of this sketch. Margaret resides 
 with her sister in Hunter; and Elizabeth, who 
 is the wife of William Stewart, is living in 
 Sullivan County. The mother died at si.xty- 
 seven. The parents were Presbyterians. 
 
 Mary J- Hraden in her girlhood attended the 
 common school.s, acquiring therein a practical 
 knowledge of .several branches of study, which 
 have since been useful to her in a business 
 way. In 1868 she became the wife of Samuel 
 S. Mulford, who was born in Harpersficld, 
 Delaware County, son of a prosperous farmer 
 of the same name. Mr. Mulford was well ed- 
 ucated, and when a young man he taught 
 .schools in Delaware, Schoharie, and Greene 
 Counties. After his marriage he was engaged 
 in the hotel Inisiness in Cairo, this county, for 
 a short time, and, going from that town to 
 Gilboa, Schoharie County, he conducted a 
 .stage line plying between Windham and Cats- 
 kill. Relinquishing the latter enterprise, he 
 came to Hunter, where he began the improve- 
 ment of the Hraden farm for summer resort 
 purposes by first removing the old dwelling, 
 
 which he replaced with a more commodious 
 building containing accommodations for a 
 number of guests. The success of the venture 
 made necessary an enlargement ot the house, 
 the addition being completed in 1S91, the year 
 in which he died. He was then fifty-six years 
 old. Mr. Mulford was w'idely and favorably 
 known throughout this section as an able busi- 
 ness man and a public-spirited citizen, ever 
 displaying an active interest in the political, 
 moral, and religious welfare of the conimu- 
 nit)-. He served as a Supervisor for a number 
 of years, was School Commissioner for two 
 terms of two years each, and he was an earnest 
 supporter of the Democratic part}-. His judg- 
 ment in public affairs was much sought after 
 and followed. Perceiving the need of a per- 
 manent religious organization in this village, 
 he was mainly instrumental in causing one to 
 be established, subscribing liberally toward the 
 erection of a church. He was a member of 
 the Masonic order, and had occupied some of 
 the imjiortant chairs in the Hhie Lotlge at Sau- 
 gerties. Samuel S. Mulford was the father of 
 three children, namely: William, Maud, and 
 Francis, all of whom are now assisting in 
 carrying on the hotel. William married 
 Carrie McGee, and has four children. 
 
 After the death of her hu.sband Mrs. Mul- 
 ford became manager as well as proprietor of 
 the hotel, and in these capacities has displayed 
 her ability by successfully conducting both 
 the business and domestic departments. The 
 Mountain .Summit House, which is a [deasant 
 and healthful summer home, occujiies a sightly 
 location upon ele\ated ground. It has ample 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 435 
 
 accommodations for two hundred guests, and 
 that their comforts are well provided for is 
 manifested by the large number who enjoy its 
 hospitality during the summer and autumn 
 months. Though not a member of any relig- 
 ious denomination, Mrs. Mulford is a generous 
 contributor toward the support of religious 
 work. She is highly esteemed for her many 
 estimable qualities. 
 
 SCAR H. SHANNON,* a Civil War 
 veteran, was born in Schenectady, 
 where he now resides, August 29, 
 1848, son of Thomas T. and Lucy C. (Geer) 
 Shannon. The father was a native of Glen- 
 ville, N. Y. His great-grandfather Shannon, 
 and his great-grandfather TuU served in the 
 Continental army during the Revolutionary 
 War. 
 
 Having completed his education, Oscar H. 
 Shannon at the age of fifteen enlisted in the 
 Seventy-seventh Regiment, New York Volun- 
 teers, with which he served until the close of 
 the Rebellion, and participated in the siege of 
 Petersburg. After his discharge he went to 
 sea as engineer's storekeeper on the steam- 
 ship "Henry Chauncy, " and was absent about 
 one year, during which time he visited South 
 America. Upon his return to Schenectady he 
 served an apprenticeship at the tinsmith's 
 trade, which he followed as a journeyman pre- 
 vious to opening an establishment on his own 
 account, and he subsequently carried on a suc- 
 cessful business for about fifteen years. Join- 
 ing the National Guard, he served for some 
 
 time as Lieutenant in a company of the 
 Eighty-third Regiment, and assisted in organ- 
 izing two other companies, one of which, the 
 Washburn Continentals, formerly the Stanford 
 Hose Company, withdrew in a body from the 
 Schenectady Fire Department to become the 
 Stanford Cadets. He was promoted from 
 the rank of First Lieutenant to that of Captain 
 of the company, and its present name was sug- 
 gested by him. The Washburn Continentals 
 were mustered into the National Guard during 
 the war with Spain as Company F, Second 
 Regiment. He was also one of the principal 
 organizers of a company composed entirely of 
 Civil War veterans, which flourished for a 
 time as originally made up; but the veterans 
 were compelled by old age to withdraw one by 
 one, and their places were filled by young re- 
 cruits. This company, of which he was First 
 Lieutenant for five years, was mustered into 
 service during the late war as Company E, 
 Second Regiment. 
 
 Mr. Shannon married Mary A. Langdon, of 
 Schenectady, daughter of John Langdon. He 
 has one daughter, Bernice L. , who is now the 
 wife of Andrew T. Bran ion, of New York 
 City. 
 
 Mr. Shannon belongs to St. Paul's Lodge, 
 No. 17, I. O. O. F. , and is a Past Commander 
 of Harsfall Post, No. 90, G. A. R. In 1871 
 he joined Julian Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
 which was afterward disbanded, but prior to 
 the surrender of its charter he withdrew for the 
 purpose of organizing the Mohawk Valley 
 Lodge at Fort Plain, and was its first Chan- 
 cellor. He was representative to the Grand 
 
436 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 Lodge in 1897, and was Deputy Grand Chan- 
 cellor. He organized Loyal Lodge, No. 384, 
 in 1896; was formerly Chief of Staff of the 
 New York Hiigadc, Uniform Rank, with the 
 rank of Colonel ; received his Grand Lodge 
 degrees during the present year ; and was ap- 
 pointed assistant organizer of the luidowment 
 Rank by Past Grand Chancellor and Supreme 
 Representative William Ledew, his jurisdic- 
 tion covering the entire State of New York 
 outside of the metropolis. Mr. Shann<m is 
 now a member of Schenectady Lodge, to which 
 he was admitted by card. 
 
 T|7^E"^ILO COBB,* a well-to-do farmer of 
 \^\ Ashland, N. Y., was burn in W'ind- 
 V«*^ ham, Greene County, March 4, 
 1821, son of Simon and Eunice (Lewis) Cobb. 
 His father came here from Connecticut as a 
 pioneer, and cleared off a tract of land, which 
 he improved into a good farm. He was an 
 early schoolmaster in this locality, and figured 
 quite prominently in the growth and develop- 
 ment of the town. He died at the age of fifty- 
 five years. Simon Cobb and his wife, Eunice, 
 were the parents of ten children. Three of 
 the four now living are: Revilo, Lchvin, and 
 Sidney. The mother dietl at the age of 
 seventy-two. 
 
 Revilo Cobb was reared upon the homestead 
 farm, and was educated in Windham. His 
 boyhood was spent in a log house, anil his 
 clothing, like that of other children of this Id- 
 eality at that time, was made from home-raised 
 wool and flax, which were spun, woven, and 
 
 made up by the deft hands of his mother. 
 When a young man he turned his attention to 
 agriculture, and tilled the soil of one farm for 
 a [leriod of thirt\'-eight year.s. In 18S8 he 
 moved to his ])resent farm of fifty acres, which 
 is admiral)ly located and unusually fertile. 
 His principal efforts are devoted to the care of 
 a well-equipped dairy. He was formerly an 
 extensive sheep-raiser, and in that, as well as 
 in dairy farming, he has, through his energy, 
 perseverance, and sound judgment, realized ex- 
 cellent financial results. He still possesses 
 the strength and agility of a much younger 
 man, and attends to his every-day duties with 
 the same activity that has for years been one 
 of his chief characteristics. In politics he is 
 a Democrat. 
 
 Mr. Cobb married Louisa Barlow, who was 
 born in Ashland, daughter of Alanson ]5ar- 
 low. Her father spent his active life upon a 
 farm in this town, and died at the age of 
 seventy-seven years. Mrs. Cobb died at the 
 age of seventy-six. She was the mother of 
 but one child, George A., who was born in 
 Ashland, October 28, 1850. Revilo Cobb acted 
 as a vestryman of the Episcopal church for a 
 number of years, and his wife was a member. 
 
 George A. Cobb completed his education in 
 West Windham, and taught school a number 
 of terms indifferent places. lie took charge 
 of the homestead farm when his father left it, 
 and he carried it on until 1S94, when he re- 
 linquished it in order to assist his father. In 
 1878 George A. Cobb married Elizabeth Sut- 
 ton, who was born in Windham, N.Y., daugh- 
 ter of Aden and Elizabeth (Cook) Sutton. Her 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 
 
 437 
 
 father was a native of Schoharie County, and 
 her mother was born in Windham, daughter of 
 Ichabod Cook. Aden and Elizabeth C. Sutton 
 were the parents of four children, namely: 
 Elizabeth, wife of George A. Cobb; Polly, 
 wife of Henry Sutton; Ella, who married 
 H. D. Martin; and Dr. I. F. Sutton, a physi- 
 cian, who died at the age of thirty-two years. 
 Aden Sutton married for his second wife 
 Theresa Cook, who died at the age of thirty- 
 seven years, leaving a daughter Ursula. The 
 latter married I. C. Lee, a merchant of this 
 
 town, and is no longer living. The father 
 died at the age of seventy-two years. He be- 
 longed to the Methodist EpiscojDal church, in 
 which he was at one time a class leader, choir 
 director, and steward. 
 
 George A. Cobb is a Democrat in politics, 
 and takes an active interest in public affairs. 
 He was one of the organizers of the local 
 grange. Patrons of Husbandry, and is its pres- 
 ent Master. Mr. and Mrs. George A. Cobb 
 have one daughter, Hattie. They attend the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
INDEX 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 A. 
 
 Adams, Edward 350 
 
 Akeley, Frank 175 
 
 Albro, William H 242 
 
 Alverson, James K 416 
 
 Anderson, George W 205 
 
 Avery, Benjamin H 388 
 
 B 
 
 Baldwin, Andrew G 53 
 
 Baldwin, William H. . . . . 305 
 
 Barrup, Charles E 417 
 
 Bassler, Wellington E 209 
 
 Beard, Franklin P 75 
 
 Becker, Harmon 20 
 
 Beekman, Dow ..... 89 
 Beekman, Duryea ... .88 
 
 Bellinger, George W 169 
 
 Benliani, John T 37 
 
 Bestle, Rudolph 208 
 
 Bice, Marshall D 306 
 
 Billings, Ernest E 368 
 
 Bloodgood, Clarence E. . . . 359 
 
 Boens, Louis A 15S 
 
 Boorn, Clarence M 320 
 
 Botsford, Henry T 19 
 
 Boughton, Seymour 33 
 
 Bradt, John 260 
 
 Bradt, Nicholas 69 
 
 Brewster, W. J 420 
 
 Bruce, Elbert 45 
 
 Burgett, William W 215 
 
 Burhans, Judson 308 
 
 Burnett, Charles S 140 
 
 liurtis, John H., Jr 400 
 
 PAGE 
 
 C. 
 
 Campbell, John D 52 
 
 Campbell, William L 240 
 
 Cary, John S 1 57 
 
 Case, James M 397 
 
 Casper, Frank L 200 
 
 Chambers, David 302 
 
 Chapman, Mrs. Elda li. . . . 273 
 
 Chapman, Frank A 296 
 
 Chapman, William W 370 
 
 Chase, Albert 265 
 
 Chase, Emory A 276 
 
 Clapper, Franklin 410 
 
 Clark, A. W 354 
 
 Clute, Bartholomew H. ... 1 56 
 
 Cobb, Revilo 436 
 
 Coffin, P. Gardiner 407 
 
 Cole, Loren P 324 
 
 Conover, John M 117 
 
 Courter, Stanton 293 
 
 Crapser, Wallace W 377 
 
 Curtis, Stephen A 22 
 
 D 
 
 Daley, James B 228 
 
 Danforth, George L 71 
 
 Decker, William H 189 
 
 Defandorf, Levi M 395 
 
 De Forest, Henry S 161 
 
 Dibbell, Renwick 13 
 
 Dickinson, Charles S3 
 
 Dodge, Egbert B 314 
 
 Dormady, Thomas 37 
 
 Dunckel, Jeremiah 226 
 
 FACE 
 E. 
 
 Elliott, Ixobert 225 
 
 Empie, John G 193 
 
 Eisenmenger, Frederick . . . 212 
 
 Enders, David 181 
 
 F 
 
 Farquher, Arlhur II 385 
 
 Faulkner, George H 149 
 
 Ferguson, Alonzo 183 
 
 Ferguson, John A 180 
 
 Ferrier, Thomas K in 
 
 Flanagan, James H 259 
 
 Ford, Edwin L . 136 
 
 Fowler, Charles 237 
 
 Fox, George L 144 
 
 France. Frank H 413 
 
 France, John H 171 
 
 Frazee, Frederick L 79 
 
 Frazier, Charles K 432 
 
 Frisbie, Daniel D 299 
 
 Frisbie, Grandison N. ... 17 
 
 Fromer, Jacob 258 
 
 Frost, James 421 
 
 G. 
 
 Gara, Hugh B 144 
 
 Caylord, John W 405 
 
 Getter, Henry C 419 
 
 Gifford, Edward A 345 
 
 Goodsell, Elmer E 32 
 
 Gordon, John A 132 
 
 (iraham, Joseph B 429 
 
 Granby, William 137 
 
44° 
 
 INDEX 
 
 VM.K 
 
 Gray, John II 54 
 
 CIreen, Nelson 70 
 
 Griswold, John A 230 
 
 Guflin, An(hcw J 12 
 
 H. 
 
 I lager, I'.ihvin 1). 
 
 
 
 
 24.S 
 
 Ilallock, .Slii)hcn 1". 
 
 
 
 
 2S6 
 
 Hamlin, William S. . 
 
 
 
 
 95 
 
 Haner, George . . 
 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 Hartt, Kdgar . . . 
 
 
 
 
 33^' 
 
 HartI, John G. . . 
 
 
 
 
 337 
 
 Ilinman, Chamufy W. 
 
 
 
 
 3f'3 
 
 Ilinnian, David M. . 
 
 
 
 
 307 
 
 Hitchcock, Dwiijht B. 
 
 
 
 
 2yi 
 
 Hoagland, Page T. . 
 
 
 
 
 270 
 
 Howe, Eugene 1^. 
 
 
 
 
 28S 
 
 Huhhell, Kichlniyer . 
 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 IhinlinL;, Ambrose R. 
 
 
 
 
 250 
 
 Jackson, lulgar 
 Jenkins, Daniel W. 
 Jcralds, Thonias W, 
 
 4'5 
 
 235 
 
 90 
 
 K. 
 
 Kelley, Solomon 259 
 
 Kerr, Albert 1 341 
 
 Kilmer, Thomas J ilS 
 
 Kills, Jacob L So 
 
 Kipp, Herbert 170 
 
 Kline, Andrew J 19.S 
 
 Kniffen, John I! if)7 
 
 Kniskcrn, William li 323 
 
 Kohring, William 87 
 
 Kreiger, Elmer E 182 
 
 Lackey, Michael, Jr. 
 
 
 
 25s 
 
 Lape, Simeon .... 
 
 
 
 29 
 
 Larkin, Willard . . . 
 
 
 
 355 
 
 Lasher, George . . . 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 Lehman, I'arke C. . 
 
 
 
 loS 
 
 Leonard, Duncan M. . 
 
 
 
 3 28 
 
 I.iddle, Andrew G. . . 
 
 
 
 '03 
 
 I.omax, I toward V. 
 Loudon, .Stephen . 
 
 PACn 
 378 
 257 
 
 M. 
 
 MacMillen, Alexander 
 
 
 
 
 •73 
 
 Magee, Peter . . . 
 
 
 
 
 3'l 
 
 Maginnis, John . . 
 
 
 
 
 390 
 
 Malcolm, Joseph . . 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 Mann, Charles . . 
 
 
 
 
 427 
 
 Markham, Convas V.. 
 
 
 
 
 411 
 
 iMattire, Garret W. . 
 
 
 
 
 •49 
 
 Mayham, Stephen L 
 
 
 
 
 '25 
 
 McCabe, Charles P. 
 
 
 
 
 3'7 
 
 McMillan, Andrew J. 
 
 
 
 
 31 
 
 .McWilliams, James C. 
 
 
 
 
 431 
 
 Mead. Joel H. . . . 
 
 
 
 
 375 
 
 Mead, William H. . 
 
 
 
 
 218 
 
 Mullord, Mrs. Mary J. 
 
 
 
 
 433 
 
 Myers, John A. . . 
 
 
 
 
 21 1 
 
 N. 
 
 Neville, William H 
 
 Newell, John A 
 
 Nichols, Charles E. . '. . . . 
 Nichols, Charles E. (of Catskill), 
 
 Odell, Herbert I.. 
 ( )'I lara, Barnard . 
 O'Hara, Michael . 
 Olnistead, Henry F. 
 O'Neil, Hugh . . 
 Osterhout, Stanton 
 
 I'elham, Elmer E. 
 Pettingill, Haman P. 
 Pitcher, Charles W. 
 I'latner, Benjamin F 
 I'latner, William C. 
 1 'otter, Thomas K. 
 Pulman, Joseph . 
 I'utnam, John II.. 
 
 425 
 48 
 60 
 
 •5' 
 
 [46 
 373 
 •3' 
 65 
 192 
 42S 
 
 349 
 122 
 176 
 3«4 
 3«4 
 •4 
 166 
 
 423 
 
 R. 
 
 Ramsey, Charles H 351 
 
 Kaymond, Andrew V. V, . . . 349 
 
 Kector, Christian 320 
 
 Kifenbark, Hiram 253 
 
 Rivcnburg, Willard T 234 
 
 Koe, John i9<; 
 
 Rose, F^li 330 
 
 Rosekraus, Albert G 338 
 
 Rossnian, John 219 
 
 Sage, Sylvester B. . 
 Salsbergh, William . 
 .Schermerhorn, Simon J 
 Searles, Frank R. 
 Sclden, Robert . . 
 Shafer, William D. . 
 .Shannon, Oscar 1 1. . 
 .Shelmandine, Lewis 
 Showers, Cyrus . . 
 Showers, Isaac . . 
 Sias, Solomon . . . 
 Slater, David T. . . 
 Smeallic, William J. 
 Smith, Chaunccy . . 
 Snyder, J. Augustus 
 Snyder, Jacob M. 
 Staley, James S. . . 
 Stanley, Peter L . . 
 .Stead, James . . . 
 .Sternberg, John II. . 
 Stevens, i-^mory . . 
 Stevens, James . . 
 Stewart, William H. 
 Straiili, I'rank .\. 
 
 Tallmadge, Benj.imin I. 
 Terpening, Ira M. . . 
 Thor])e, William E. . . 
 Tinning, Archibald . . 
 Treadw'ell, La Grand I. 
 
 ■30 
 
 U. 
 
 Utter, Israel P. 
 I'lter, James L. 
 
 399 
 
 47 
 
 191 
 
 435 
 63 
 
 39 
 
 85 
 
 101 
 
 327 
 
 3S8 
 162 
 275 
 283 
 129 
 280 
 
 3';3 
 164 
 
 404 
 
 97 
 202 
 
 263 
 106 
 
 380 
 
 55 
 364 
 
 127 
 4tS 
 
 >■% 
 
INDEX 
 
 44r 
 
 V 
 
 Van Bergen, Henry 138 
 
 Vanderbilt, William S. ... 266 
 
 Vanderpoel, Andrew J. ... 1S7 
 
 Van Dreser, Henry 9O 
 
 Van Eps, Peter V 66 
 
 Van Loan, Jane 93 
 
 Van Loan, Walton 77 
 
 Van Schaick, Joseph W. . . . 285 
 
 Van Valkenburgh, Jacob . . . 342 
 
 Van Wagenen, Jared .... 207 
 
 Van Zandt, Henry C 34 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Voss, Charles 104 
 
 Vroman, Dow F 361 
 
 W. 
 
 Waddell, James W 143 
 
 Waddell, William T 63 
 
 Wakeman, Alonzo 197 
 
 Wasson, William A 61 
 
 Weidnian, Charles E 222 
 
 West, Noah D 114 
 
 Wilber, Kirby 76 
 
 Wilson, Mrs. Julia A 238 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Winegard, Richard 154 
 
 Woodworth, Lucius A 294 
 
 Wyatt, James T 367 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yates, Austin A 9 
 
 Young, J. Edward 38 
 
 Young, Madison 424 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zelie, Luther 313 
 
PORTRAITS. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 Albro, William H 243 
 
 Anderson, George W 204 
 
 Baldwin. William II 304 
 
 lit-anl, Franklin P 74 
 
 Bellinger, George W. . . facts 169 
 
 Blootlgood, Clarence !•'.. . . . 35S 
 
 Bradt, John 261 
 
 Hurtis, Jolin H., Jr 401 
 
 De Forest, Henry S 160 
 
 Dickinson, Charles 82 
 
 Dodge, Egbert 15 3(5 
 
 Kisennienger, Frederick . . . 2r3 
 
 Ferrier, Thomas E no 
 
 Frisbie, Daniel D 29.S 
 
 Frisbie, Grandison N 16 
 
 Gordon, John A 133 
 
 rAf.K 
 
 Griswold, John A 231 
 
 Hitchcock, Dwight I! 290 
 
 Hubbell, Riclitmver .... 41 
 
 Jerald.s, Thomas W 91 
 
 Kerr, Albert L 340 
 
 Kilmer, Thomas J 119 
 
 Maginnis, John 391 
 
 Malcolm, Joseph 24 
 
 Mattice, Garret W 14S 
 
 Mayham, Stephen L i 24 
 
 Newell, John A 49 
 
 O'Hara, Barnard 372 
 
 Pitcher, Charles W. . .... 177 
 
 Raymond, Andrew V'. V. . . . 34S 
 
 Rector, Christian 321 
 
 Rifenbark, Hiram 252 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Rose, Eli . 331 
 
 Rose, Mrs. Eli 333 
 
 •Sias, Solomon 100 
 
 Stanley, I'eter 1 2.S1 
 
 Straub, P>ank X 57 
 
 Thorpe, William E 3S1 
 
 Vanderbilt, William S. ... 267 
 
 Vandcrpoel, Andrew J. ... 186 
 
 Van Eps, Peter \' 67 
 
 Van Zandt, Henry C 35 
 
 Waddell, James W 142 
 
 Wakenian, Alonzo 196 
 
 Weidman, Charles E 223 
 
 Wyatt, James T 36O 
 
 Yates, Anstin A S 
 
 lRBJe'28 
 
 r^^. 
 

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